


In Absentia

by Caliiro



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different Powers, F/F, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, New York City
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 63,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29934762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caliiro/pseuds/Caliiro
Summary: Taylor Hebert had little idea that when she broke down sobbing in her father's arms two days before Christmas that he'd actually be able to help, that he'd be able to ensure that the monsters that had been bullying her were punished. She'd also never expected that this might actually result in things getting worse for her. So bad in fact that her father swallowed his pride and reached out to the one person in the world that he thought he'd never have to interact with ever again. This is the story all about how Taylor Hebert ended up leaving Brockton Bay one windy January afternoon, and the ripples that would wash outwards from her arrival in a city far larger and more daunting than the crumbling wreck that she'd left in her wake.
Relationships: Taylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver & Lily | Flechette | Foil
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a port of a story that's currently on Hiatus over on Space Battles, I'm just putting it some place a touch easier to read, and to preserve it in case anything happens. Hopefully when my Muse gets off of Covid induced Quarantine, I'll come back and do more over here.

_January 30th, 2011  
Manhattan, New York_

  
  
_[ ...rriving at Grand Central Station in roughly twenty minutes. This will be our final stop of the evening, and all passengers will be expected to depart. I’d like to take this chance to thank you for…]_  
  
The speakers overhead crackling to life dragged Taylor out of the uncomfortable doze that she’d been lulling in over the last two hours since their last rest stop. Blinking rapidly, the young woman jerked forward in her seat, straightening up suddenly and lifting a hand to wipe the saliva from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. Wiping her hand off on her sweater, Taylor ran a hand through her hair, once more barely managing to avoid flinching at how much shorter it was now than it’d been a week ago.  
  
Doing her best to not think about how she’d ended up with hair that barely reached her shoulders, Taylor tried to focus on something else, and it took a moment of half-lucid blinking before the bus around her swam back into focus. The outdated patterns on the fabric that coated the seats around her shifted back into sharp contrast. One of Taylor’s hands reached down, grasping the lapel of the oversized jacket that she’d been wearing, dragging it up and over her shoulder and huddling back down into it.  
  
She told herself that it was to brace herself from the cold, but it was probably more to do with inhaling the lingering aroma of her father’s aftershave that still clung to the jacket. Fiddling with the cuffs of the slightly too long sleeves, Taylor stared at her pale fingers peeking out of the heavy winter coat and felt the frown on her face softening just a bit.  
  
They’d dozed off watching a movie after lunch, and she’d nearly missed her bus, and in the rush to get her things into the truck and to get her here, Taylor had left her jacket draped over the back of a chair in the kitchen back home. By the time Taylor’d noticed, it was too late to turn around, and she’d been rather touched when her dad had just slid his around her shoulders. Privately, in the safety of her mind, Taylor admitted that she was glad that she had this tangible reminder of him.  
  
They’d only been apart for barely six hours at this point, and she already craved his voice, his stoic presence. Things had gotten better after Christmas, after she’d fallen apart in his arms and confessed to everything that happened, with Emma, with Sophia. Surprisingly, he’d been able to help, he’d been able to fix things somehow, if only a little bit, but more than that? He’d actually come out of his funk. He’d come back to her, and things had been different. She’d gotten used to seeing her old Dad around the house and now… now he was over three hundred miles away and alone.  
  
Her thoughts turned inward, contemplating how he’d eat without her there to remind him not to worry. What he’d do about the people that occasionally still lingered on the streets outside the house. She briefly wondered if the calls from Alan would cease now that she was gone, or if her dad’s former friend would just get worse, if the reporters would give up assuming the story dead, if-  
  
Brakes screeching, the bus lurched to a stop, starling Taylor out of her thoughts. The lights overhead and along the aisle flickered on one by one and Taylor staggered up and out of the seat, glancing around blearily at the other two people on the bus. Neither of the other commuters paid her any mind, both standing and collecting their bags from the overhead racks. Taylor followed suit, collecting her suitcase and duffle from above her seat and heading toward the exit.  
  
Taylor’s shoulders ached at the abuse after having been squished into that uncomfortable chair for so long, but she pushed through it, dragging her bags to the front of the bus. The driver offered her a half-hearted good evening that she returned with a nod of her head before dragging her bags down the stairs and onto the concrete of the parking bay.  
  
Reaching into her pocket, Taylor tugged out the scrap of paper that her father had written the instructions on for this next leg of the trip, nearly losing it when the bus let out a loud hiss behind her. Turning, Taylor watched it back out of the bay and pull away, waiting for her heart to settle a bit in its rhythm before moving to read the notes carefully.  
  
Once she’d committed them to memory, it was back on the move once more. Back into the station and down the stairs and into the subway station. Tickets were purchased, and Taylor dragged her bags onto the subway, quietly repeating the instructions in her head to keep them in her mind and to keep herself awake.  
  
_‘Take the Seven Line to Court Square Station, transfer to the E Line, take it to the Jamaica Van-Wyck Subway station.’_ Taylor repeated the mantra to herself over and over in her head as she kept a death grip on her luggage, suitcase beside her and duffel over her lap. Even though there was only a pair of older ladies on the subway with her, Taylor kept her head down, acted like she was deep in thought, and the women seemed content to chat quietly with each other.  
  
Instead of her father, this time, as she hung her head and gripped her clothes, Taylor turned her thoughts to the woman that was waiting for her. Taylor hadn’t spoken with her grandmother in years, not since before her mother died. She and her father didn’t get along, and tiny parts of Taylor thought back to the way that she’d heard her father describe the woman to Emma’s father when they’d both thought that she and Emma were safely out of earshot.  
  
She’d been a teacher, Taylor recalled half-formed memories of meals shared long, long in the past, and vague comments on Christmas and birthday cards that she’d set aside once she’d claimed the cash bounty within them. Her imagination had spun away from her as the distance between her and her only family beyond her father shrank, imagining a tall hunched woman with beady eyes and a severe bun, a permanent scowl and twisted, gnarled hands — the typical, stereotypical cruel school-marm.  
  
It was a surprise then, when she arrived at the station, dragging her bags up the stairs only to be confronted by Mary McBride in the flesh. The woman was tiny compared to her, barely reaching Taylor’s shoulders, and despite the thick warm clothing that she wore to ward off the January chill, she was clearly just as svelte as Taylor herself. The warmth in the woman’s eyes was a bit of a shock, and Taylor nervously shifted on her feet, cheeks darkening as she was pinned in place by the dazzling smile that grew over the woman’s face.  
  
“Taylor,” The words were laced with faint recognition and Taylor nervously jerked her head in a nod, adjusting her bags, blinking when her grandmother quickly advanced on her and smoothly scooped the duffle bag out of her hands. “Look at you! You’ve grown so much; you’re going to be a giant just like...” The warmth and the affection in the woman’s expression dimmed just a touch as she trailed off, and Taylor could fill in the rest of the sentence, nervously shifting in place. It took a moment for the woman to recover, nodding and glancing around before turning her attention back to Taylor.  
  
“This is everything, then?” She spoke pertly, and Taylor nodded hesitantly, blinking when the older woman turned and gestured for her to follow, walking with a briskness that startled her. They were across the lobby and out the door before Taylor was sure what was going on, and they moved quickly through the thickly falling snow toward a waiting car. The trunk was opened, her bags stuffed in, and it shut smoothly over them, and then Taylor nervously slid around the side of the car, pulling open the passenger door and clambering in.  
  
“How was the trip? Did you get down, okay?” Taylor glanced up at her grandmother from where she was securing her belt in place, slowly pushing it into place with an audible click that seemed to echo around the car in the silence as the older woman waited for a response. Flushing quietly, Taylor spoke, feeling self-conscious of how rough her voice was.  
  
“I-... Yeah. It was long. Six hours?” She paused, watching as the older woman nodded smoothly, sliding her keys into the ignition and starting the car. Taylor watched the woman put the car into gear, slowly pulling out of the snowy parking lot and out onto the streets, and she continued softly. “I slept most of the way down. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it passed the time.”  
  
“Did you eat?” The question was laced with curiosity and something else that Taylor couldn’t quite put her finger on. She shifted in place before nodding, staring out the window at the passing houses as she responded.  
  
“We stopped somewhere in Worcester for dinner,” Taylor spoke softly, blinking when the woman flashed her a curious look and a raised eyebrow that left her distinctly remembering the same look that her mother had used on her. Before she could really think about it, Taylor continued to speak, clarifying nervously. “There was a Burger Joint; I got a burger and fries.” The woman let out an amused hum as she kept her eyes on the road, her hands firm on the wheel.  
  
“This was around, what, five or six?” When Taylor let out a faint affirmative noise at the question, the older woman nodded, smoothly turning the wheel and turning the old car down into a residential neighbourhood. “We’ll have to get you a sandwich or something when we get home. It’s a bit late for anything too heavy, sadly, but we’ll get a decent breakfast in you tomorrow to make up for it.” Taylor grimaced, frowning as a flicker of guilt washed through her. She glanced at her grandmother as the car came to a stop before a red light.  
  
“I-... You don’t have to go to any trouble-” Taylor tried to keep her voice soft, gentle, blinking when the woman glanced her way with a surprisingly warm expression on her face. She nearly flinched back when one of the wrinkled hands lifted off the wheel and reached for her, but she managed to hold herself back, allowing the older woman to give her hand a firm squeeze before she turned back to the road, setting her hand on the wheel and spoke.  
  
“Get that thought out of your head, Taylor. You’re family, and it’s not any trouble, I promise.” The words were warm and resolute, and Taylor nervously studied her grandmother’s features for a sign that the woman was putting up a front to spare her feelings. When the woman merely flashed her a curious look at the next red light, Taylor flushed, warmth flickering to life in her chest. Glancing nervously away, Taylor stared out the window at the passing townhouses, the car chugging its way up over a hill as the snow continued to pile up around them, turning everything white. Cheeks continuing to burn, Taylor muttered nervously as she continued to fiddle with the sleeves of her jacket.  
  
“I-... Thanks… erm, Gram.”  
  
  


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Absently rubbing her still shockingly too-short hair with the fluffy towel that had been waiting for her in the bathroom, Taylor fought off the few faint lingering hints of the grogginess that she’d been feeling all morning. Lifting her head, Taylor carefully took in the space around her that in her exhaustion, she’d ignored last night while crawling into bed. This had once been her mother's room, her grandmother had said, and now it was hers and Taylor wasn’t sure how she felt about that.  
  
On the one hand it was fascinating to Taylor. The furniture itself was old enough that it was clear that this was the room that her mother had once slept in. The bed, the dresser, the desk with its vanity mirror; they all hinted at an age that left Taylor reasonably sure that these had been the fixtures of the space when her mother had been the one sleeping here. While Taylor was confident that the layout had changed over the years, that the area wasn’t the exact same as it had once been, it was still fascinating to get this perspective.  
  
It was also quite tragic in a way that Taylor couldn’t easily articulate. Beyond a few lingering artifacts that would have been difficult to remove, an etching on the surface of the desk, words rebelliously written into the underside of a shelf in painfully familiar handwriting, there were personal touches in the room. While Taylor could admit that the notion itself was overly melodramatic, it was almost as if the room itself had been sanitized to make it into the guest room that it had later become. That feeling left a yawning gap in her chest as she stared at the hardwood floor.  
  
Wondering if the fitful night's sleep that she’d had was the source of her current maudlin, Taylor shook herself out of the dark thoughts and pushed off the bed. Moving over and hanging the damp towel in her hands on one of the stainless steel hooks that were affixed the back of the door, Taylor turned her attention to where she’d left her luggage leaning against the wall. Both bags found themselves set on the bed and opened, and Taylor carefully picked through the items in each, a doleful frown on her lips as she considered the sorry state of her wardrobe.  
  
Ironically, when she’d been packing to come down here, she’d only packed up the least damaged portions of her wardrobe, but here, in the cold light shining through the opened curtains, things looked particularly grim. Putting her shirts into the dresser, Taylor could only find a single one that lacked any stitched holes or faded stains, and when the pants followed, none of them could have been said to match that feat.  
  
Luckily, things hadn’t gotten to the point that the more personal elements of her wardrobe had been overly affected, and those things came through mostly intact. Still, even as she’d left the dresser barely half full, she was struggling to come up with an outfit that she could wear on Tuesday that wouldn’t leave her looking like she was actually homeless.  
  
Taylor was still there, staring dejectedly at the options on display when the doorknob rattled, and the door swung in to reveal the friendly bundle of affection that her grandmother had been revealed to be. The woman was wearing an apron, wiping her hands with a tea towel that she tossed over her shoulder while carefully looking Taylor up and down.  
  
“I heard you up and moving around, so I got started on breakfast, it’s all ready if you’re-” The woman paused, settling those penetrating blue eyes on her in a way that left Taylor nervously shifting in place. That sharp perceptiveness had been a shock and several times last night as Taylor had picked her way through the sandwich that she’d been made in the kitchen, responding in short sentences to the questions the woman was asking, Taylor had been left feeling like she’d been saying a lot more than she’d intended, when the woman’s eyes settled onto her like this.  
  
When her grandmother approached, Taylor was tempted to reach out, push the dresser shut, some small hint of guilt and embarrassment warring in Taylor’s chest at the idea of this woman seeing the sorry state of her few meagre possessions. She barely managed to restrain the instinct, worrying her bottom lip as the older woman approached. Her grandmother gave her a single curious look before turning to stare down into the dresser, lifting one of Taylor’s shirts and inspecting it silently for a moment before setting it back down carefully and shaking her head with a grim expression on her face.  
  
“What was that-” The words were tinged with a hint of irritation, anger that startled Taylor, but the older woman cut herself off before finishing the sentence shaking her head quietly and taking a step back. Feeling self-conscious, Taylor shifted closer to the dresser and finally allowed herself to use a hip to push the dresser shut. The older woman stared at her for a moment before offering her a gentle smile. “I suppose we’ll have to beef your wardrobe up a bit, dear?” The woman smirked curiously at her and Taylor bowed her head, flushing as that familiar flicker of guilt and embarrassment washed through her.  
  
“I’m not-” She swallowed slowly, lifting her chin and glancing at her grandmother. “It’s fine, you don’t have to go out of your wa-” She paused, flushing when the woman fixed her with an oddly intense look that saw her taking a single step back, hands opening and closing nervously as she struggled to find something to say. In the end, the older woman saved her from her mental straw grasping.  
  
“Taylor, it’s _fine_.” The final word was stressed in a way that quieted a bit of Taylor’s nervous guilt, but before she could open her mouth to continue to protest, the older woman continued smoothly, glancing around the room. “I’ve got a few Christmases to catch up on, and it’d be fun, I think. We’ll also need to get you some things to decorate the room. Your mother-” The woman paused, humming thoughtfully, and Taylor found herself once more being inspected thoughtfully by the older woman.  
  
“Well, actually, for the moment…Well, c’mere.” The woman gestured for Taylor to follow, leaving the room. Hesitantly moving to follow, Taylor exited the room to find the older woman with a hook in hand, using it to pull down the trap door for the attic. The door rattled open, a staircase descending from the dark space above. Taylor stood at the base of the stairs as the older woman smoothly vanished into what she realized was an attic.  
  
When a light burst into life in the space above, and her grandmother’s head appeared in the hatchway, staring down at her expectantly, Taylor flushed and quickly clambered up in the woman’s wake. She emerged into an ample storage space, turning to find her grandmother reading labels on a series of plastic totes, the woman’s voice drifting her way as she approached.  
  
“Truthfully, I should have donated this stuff to Goodwill or a thrift store, luckily for you; I’m a bit of a hoarder... And well- Aha!” Taylor moved closer when the woman let out that sound, staring at the totes that her grandmother had stopped on. The label on the side of the first tote didn’t make much sense, merely reading; _‘AM - 08/87 - C1.’_ When her grandmother pulled one of the large boxes on top if out of the stack, Taylor moved to help, the pair of them working their way down to the two totes that the older woman had indicated.  
  
Considering the subject that they’d been discussing, Taylor shouldn’t have been surprised to find that when the top of the tote was removed, it’d reveal a sizeable collection of clothing. What _was_ surprising that it all looked at first glance like it’d fit her. Glancing over at her grandmother, she blinked as the woman dusted her hands off and smiled.  
  
“You’re roughly the same build that Annette was when she was your age, and while the styles might be a bit dated, but that’s apparently cool now? They’re calling it ‘Retro,’ I think.” Taylor turned back down to the box, lifting out a few _interesting_ looking t-shirts, she glanced over at her grandmother who grinned faintly and shrugged her shoulders. “There should be a few things in there at least that will fit, and you can wear around? Pick out whatever you want, and we can toss it through the wash.”  
  
Feeling an odd warmth in her chest, Taylor stared down at the first tote for a few moments before slowly dropping to her knees on the dusty floor. She was so wrapped up in considering the garments on display that when she finally glanced back up to accept the offer, she was surprised to find that she was alone. The boxes had been stacked next to where they’d go when Taylor put the one she was working with away, and her grandmother had vanished.  
  
Turning her attention back to the totes, Taylor carefully picked through everything within. A massive nearly ten-foot-long rainbow patterned wool scarf had been folded and placed on top, and Taylor lifted it up, inspecting with an amused smile. She hadn’t thought that her mother had been that much of a fan of Doctor Who. Beyond the ostentatious, there was an eclectic mix of things, and Taylor was oddly surprised. She’d expected her mother to be the typical 80’s kid with big shoulders and bright colours, and while a few similar things peeked out, a lot of things were more subdued. Blouses, suspenders, black pants dominated the first tote, and in the other were branded t-shirts, turtlenecks, sweaters. Before she’d really thought about it, Taylor was picking through everything and sorting them into the two totes.  
  
One she was calling ‘Put Back’ which held everything that was too bright, too wild for her to get away with using, the other called 'Keep' held everything that didn’t look exceptionally obvious that it was nearly thirty years old. When she’d run out of clothes to check, Taylor sealed up the second tote and moved over to the wall, replacing it in its place.  
  
Once it was back in place, Taylor had turned to start putting the rest of the totes in place when the label on the top of the stack stuck out at her; _‘AM - 08/1987 - E‘_ Staring at it, she considered the labels on the two totes she’d opened and turned back to the plastic bin, removing the lid and peering within. At first glance, it certainly seemed more fascinating then she’d expected. Half a dozen plastic tubes, a trio of heavy-looking books and several chests stacked on top of each other that obscured something clear and plastic beneath them.  
  
Curiously, Taylor dragged this new trove over to the tote that contained all the treasures that she’d already claimed. Dropping down onto the dusty wooden boards once more, Taylor tilted the container over to rest against her knees so that she could reach into it and extract it’s contents one by one.  
  
Lifting out one of the dark green plastic tubes from the Tote, Taylor unscrewed the cap and peered in curiously, blinking at the roll of vinyl within. Tilting the container over, Taylor caught what she realized was a poster when she saw the tiny holes visible in the corners of the roll. Setting the tube aside, Taylor carefully unrolled the poster and held it up so that she could see the image printed on it better. A tall woman in leather pants and a jacket was leaning against a wall.  
  
_‘Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.’_ Taylor mulled the name of the band under her breath, inspecting the woman who she assumed was Joan Jett for a moment before rolling the poster back up and carefully slipping it back into its case. Sealing it up once more, Taylor set it to the side and reached back into the tote, extracting the other tubes and setting them to the side to be examined later. Turning her attention to the heavy books, Taylor belatedly realized that they must be photo albums, and she hesitated for a moment before tentatively lifting the first one out and setting it over her lap.  
  
Running her hands over the faux-leather cover, Taylor couldn’t quite restrain the smile that grew over her lips as she traced the letters that someone had jauntily sewed into it that spelled out ‘The Odyssey.' True to her expectations and worries, opening the cover revealed a familiar face was staring up out of the single image on the page. Hand lifting, Taylor’s fingers dragged over the Polaroid, staring at the dark-haired girl in the picture, somewhat struck by the mixture of recognition and shock.  
  
The girl in the image leaning against a wall and smiling awkwardly at the camera was clearly her mother, and yet… at the same time, she wasn’t. Taylor’s mother had been gorgeous, tall and elegant and beautiful. And while there were hints of that there, this girl was tall and gangly, all elbows and awkward smiles. Her hair was short, and her glasses far too large, but she had the biggest friendliest smile that Taylor had ever seen. As she stared at her, dressed in one of the outfits actually sitting in the tote beside her, Taylor was struck with a faint hint of melancholy that she’d never gotten to meet _this_ girl.  
  
Flipping to the next page, Taylor was confronted by more images of her mother, most of them with other strangely dressed kids hanging around, though the random image here or there would merely show the woman by herself, most of the candids. Taylor had gotten so lost in the book that she hadn’t heard the return of her grandmother, her focus solely on the book and its haunting contents. Taylor’d found an image of her mother in the room that was now hers, sitting on the bed and chewing on a pencil as she stared into an old looking textbook, the sunlight dappling over her form from out of the shot. She’d been staring thoughtfully at the girl trying to puzzle out the expression on her face when a voice cut across her shoulder, shocking her out of her ruminations.  
  
“You look a lot like her at that age, you know.” The words were soft, warm, and Taylor jumped, glancing over at her grandmother. A flush of embarrassment and guilt flickered through her, imagining how her father would have reacted if he’d caught her going through her mother’s things like this.  
  
“S-Sorry, I saw the label on the box, and I was curious.” Taylor flushed, nervously fidgeting despite the lack of apparent anger on the older woman’s face. When Gram merely shifted closer and dropped down next to her, holding out her hands, Taylor offered the book over tentatively, watching the older woman skim through the photos.  
  
“You don’t need to apologize, Taylor, these are all your things, really. She was your mother. And if you like, I’ve got some other albums downstairs we can look over too.” The woman smiled down at the page silently before slowly shaking her head. “Honestly I’d forgotten that all this was up here, let’s see what else is in here, hrm?” Taylor shifted the case toward the older woman, watching as she pulled out the rest of the photo albums and set them aside, reaching instead for the first of the wooden chests within.  
  
The older woman lifted out the chest and set it on her knees, dragging the tips of the fingers of one of her wrinkled hands over the dust that coated the wooden case for a moment before carefully opening up the hinged lid and smiling as she turned the box toward Taylor. Leaning forward, Taylor rested against her grandmother and peered down into the box, blinking at the eclectic collection of cheap and costume jewelry on display, reaching out and lifting a bit of jade that hung from a thin cord of leather and inspecting it curiously.  
  
“Your grandfather got that for your Mother for her thirteenth birthday, I think. He bought it down in Chinatown, but she certainly did love it.” Humming in idle fascination, Taylor reached out, gently setting the stone back into the tray of the chest and watched her grandmother close it, setting it aside.  
  
The last case within was larger, triple the size of the jewelry box and Taylor moved to stand to pull it out herself. She reached in, grabbing the handles on the heavy box and pulling it free. Her grandmother loosed an amused snort that drew Taylor’s attention, and she backed off as the older woman popped the lid open. “I hadn’t realized that your mother hadn’t taken this with her.” One hand reached out and popped the top of the box open, and Taylor leaned over to see a sizable collection of records that had been carefully packaged and arranged.  
  
“She took her favourites with her off to college; I suppose these were the ones that she could do without on a weekly basis.” Shaking her head, Taylor’s grandmother reached into the box and pulled out one of the records in its envelope and flipped it over to reveal the cover. A solemn girl with white-blonde hair and far, far too many bracelets on her arm stared back at Taylor in the black and white image, and the text to either side of the album proclaimed the girl to be ‘Madonna.’ Staring in fascination, Taylor reached out curiously, accepting the album from her grandmother as the woman picked through the tote.  
  
“I think she took her record player with her when she moved out, but… your grandfather had one as well that I put away up here somewhere. We could probably dig it out if you like.” The woman grinned as she pulled out a different album and inspected the cover and Taylor moved to lean over curiously, checking the cover of this one, taking in the man about to smash a guitar on a stage. The words ‘London Calling’ jumped out at her and Taylor studied it curiously, glancing at the faint smile on her grandmother’s face as she got lost in the memories that the record sleeve brought up.  
  
It took the older woman a few moments, but she did eventually manage to snap herself out of the memories, shaking her head and slipping the albums away before turning toward Taylor once more. Glancing into the tote of clothes that Taylor had reclaimed, the older woman grinned as she tugged out the rainbow scarf and held it up curiously while speaking.  
  
“So, I guess you’ve found some things you’d care to use?” Dropping the scarf back where she’d found it atop the pile of the clothing, the woman pushed up to her feet and dusted herself off carefully, bending down and scooping up the tote. “I’ll get these into the wash, and you can tidy up?” Smiling, the older woman nodded toward the pile of her mother’s things, continuing gently.  
  
“Put away what you don’t want, Taylor, dear, but you should bring whatever you want to keep downstairs.” Taylor blinked at the thought, turning to curiously inspect the artifacts of her mother’s youth. When she glanced up to ask her grandmother if it was really okay to take them, she was surprised to find that the woman had vanished once more. Turning back to the tangible collection of her mother’s history before her, Taylor couldn’t help herself, carefully placing everything back into the crate and taking the whole thing toward the stairs, intent on putting it in her room.  
  
  


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It was frankly startling to see what a little colour, and Taylor used the term here quite lightly, considering how many of the posters on the walls were in black and white, could do to a room. Before, when the walls had been bare, and Taylor sat on this same spot on the bed, the place felt empty, impersonal, almost cold. It’d made her sleep fitful, and now, things were… different. Better.  
  
The music helped as well, the faint punky strings drifting from the tall speakers to either side of her dresser drifting around the room, filling it. It’d taken her and her grandmother nearly three hours after lunch to figure out the wires, and to get everything put back together correctly, but the music was certainly worth the effort. Now, with the tiny mementoes of her mother scattered around the space, Taylor felt strangely much more at home.  
  
The room itself was an eclectic mix of the tattered remnants of Taylor’s own life interposed with the cast of remains of her mother's childhood. The dressers filled with her old clothes, and the freshly laundered things that she’d recovered from her mother. Her father’s coat hung off the back of the door, its aged green fabric and furry scruff standing out. Dark leather gloves that she’d found in a bag in the garage peeked out of its pockets like that was where they belonged, and the vibrant rainbow-coloured scarf that had once belonged to her mother draped over the jacket and dragged along the floor at the base of the door, despite having been looped around the hook that the jacket also hung from several times.  
  
Even the clothing that Taylor wore had changed. Looking at herself in the mirror, Taylor ran a hand through her shorter hair and curiously considered the simple white and blue pinstriped pyjama pants and the modest tank top that she’d ended up wearing. They weren’t fancy, but they fit her properly, and they were much less threadbare than the blue duck-print garments that she’d woken up in and some tiny part of Taylor in the back of her mind prompted her to straighten her back and study herself.  
  
Pushing herself up to her feet, Taylor padded across the wooden floor to the vanity, carefully opening the photo album on it and staring at that image on the first page and considering the awkward, nervous smile on her mother’s face. She glanced at herself and felt that same smile growing over her own features. There was a kind of camaraderie in this, Taylor had to admit as she shifted away from the mirror a bit, bringing the book with her as she returned to the bed.  
  
Seeing her mother like this, awkward and spindly and clearly nervous about being on camera made her feel… better, more normal. And as she flipped through the book, Taylor had to admit that the sight of the people around her mother smiling with her, the people that seemed to care about her in those candid shots, that also filled Taylor with some small measure of hope that maybe things might be different come tomorrow. Come on Tuesday and all of its new frontiers.  
  
“Taylor! Dinner!” The voice echoed up from down below, and Taylor shifted on the bed, starting to close the book. Pausing thoughtfully, Taylor flipped through the pages until that first page stared up at her, that image of her mother standing awkwardly staring up at her. Taylor stared at the picture for another moment and glanced at the door, checking to see that her grandmother hadn’t come looking for her before speaking softly.  
  
“...Thanks, mom. For… everything.” She traced the line of her mother’s face on the page before closing the book. Standing, she placed the photo album back on her vanity, and then moved over, shutting off the record player, removing the track head from the record as her grandmother had shown her, before walking out of the room and closing the door in her wake. Taking a deep breath, Taylor inhaled the scent of something rich and flavorful drifting up the stairs, and she moved quickly, descending the stairs two at a time and following her nose toward whatever was giving off that mouth-watering aroma.  
  
  


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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[There you all have it, Chapter one of a new project that I've been contemplating and working on. I don't have a whole lot say here just yet, but let's get a few things squared away before the comments start to come in.
> 
> Yes, I do plan on continuing on INFC, though I will be taking a short hiatus, there's a comment in the thread about it that you should all check out.
> 
> Yes, Taylor will have a power, and no, it won't be bug control, anything more than that is spoilers, but I think it's neat personally.
> 
> This story will be a bit of a slow burn to some degree, and the hard limit of 6k that I set myself for each chapter means that while things will progress in each chapter, we might not get the same amount of plot, so I do ask for some patience. I'm not sure what sort of writing pace I'll have, but I'll do my best to keep things going fairly quickly.]]
> 
> [[Original Post Date; Nov 13th, 2019]]


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Another chapter ready to go, I doubt that I’ll be resuming my daily uploads, by the way, but I don’t see these chapters taking two weeks each either. I’ll probably avoid committing to any sort of update schedule, but an update to each story once a week is probably what I’ll be aiming for. I think the next update we’ll probably see is the first chapter of Hebert Heavy Industries, and I’ll probably toss a link in here when it goes up, to keep things organized.]]

_February 1st, 2011  
Oak Valley Secondary School, Queens_

  
Hope was for chumps, Taylor bitterly thought to herself, staring up at the monstrous school rising before her. Three stories tall, and if she wasn’t mistaken, the damn thing actually bent away at a right angle off to the east, apparently connected to an entire other building. Considering the towering edifice before her, Taylor guessed that it was twice the size of Winslow, and if the masses of students loitering outside or moving in and out of the doors were any indication, the student body was of a similarly impressive size.

Taylor had been standing at the edge of the parking lot for nearly ten minutes, staring worriedly up at the school, struggling to convince her feet to move forward, to avoid the temptation to just turn around, find her way back to the bus, and to just go home and claim that she couldn’t do this. The worst part was that despite the terror gripping her chest, no one was even looking at her. Everyone walked past, and their eyes practically slid off of her and yet, Taylor couldn’t shake the dread that gripped her.

Taking a deep breath, Taylor turned, already contemplating what she’d say when she got home, though the motion stopped quite suddenly when she caught sight of her reflection in the window of a nearby car. She lingered in place for several moments before slowly stepping forward, moving closer to the car. She stopped a short distance away, unaware whether the car had an alarm and stared at her image, a bit shocked despite herself at the girl that stared back at her.

Her hair was the most striking difference between how she thought of herself and the girl staring back at her from beneath the olive green and fur-lined hood of her father’s coat. It’d been tended to as best it could have been once they’d carved out the gum, but she’d lost a lot of it, and the trip over to the school had resulted in the much shorter locks being a bit messier than they might have been when she’d gotten out of the shower. The cold had stained her cheeks, where they peeked out of the warmth of her clothing at least, a vibrant red that nearly matched the colour on the massive rainbow coloured scarf that she wore, the thing wrapped around her neck three times and still reaching her knees.

She stared at the girl peering back at her from the mirror, and she had a hard time viewing her as the same Taylor Hebert that had slinked into Winslow every day for nearly the last two years. Honestly, she wasn’t sure _who_ _exactly_ the girl before her was, but she was different enough that Taylor managed to press her lips into a thin line.

Turning, Taylor clenched her fists in her gloves and forced herself to move forward. One foot lifted, settling on the stone path, then the other. Letting out a slow breath, Taylor glanced around, checking to see if anyone was staring at her. Finding everyone blissfully absorbed in their own conversations and/or phones, Taylor felt her shoulders relaxing, and she moved forward more quickly, her feet crunching into the snow along the path as she headed toward the array of doors at the front of the school.

Taylor was up the stairs and into the school before she realized it, even automatically yet carefully patting her jacket down to dislodge the faint dusting of snow that clung to it as she walked down the hallway. She’d expected this entrance to be the main foyer of the school, but staring at the entrance to a massive cafeteria, and the walls on either side of it lined with lockers, let Taylor know that she’d probably have to search for the office.

One hand lifted, pushing back the hood of her jacket before slipping down and unzipping her coat fully to keep herself from melting in the warmth of the school. Stepping forward, Taylor walked up to the intersection at the end of the hall and glanced left and right, inspecting the two corridors lined with matching lockers and old wooden doors. Frowning, Taylor’s fingers dug into her satchel, and she fished out the documentation her grandmother had given her.

She checked the first few pages, frowning upon finding nothing resembling a classroom number or a map. Letting out a faint grumble, Taylor stuffed the documents back into her bag and glanced into the cafeteria, frowning again as she considered finding a table that wasn’t too full and seeing if she could ask someone for-

“Lost?” The question came from her left and Taylor froze for a moment, turning slowly to see who’d spoken. Two girls were leaning against the lockers nearby, and Taylor turned to face them, freezing when her eyes settled on the taller of the pair. A momentary flashback ghosted through her at the sight of the tall thin girl with red hair, though the feeling quickly fled as she took in the girl’s lopsided smile. There were obvious differences, of course, the girl before her was tall and almost as thin as Taylor herself, the hair was darker, the freckles way more noticeable and there was a spark of mischief in those dark blue eyes that Taylor had never seen in Emma’s.

Also, the fashion taste was different. Dark jeans and a plaid shirt left unbuttoned as it hung over a fitted tee that had ‘Carpe DM’ printed on it, the words surrounded by dice in a multitude of colours. Taylor smiled as she studied the girl, something about the girl’s casual air putting her at ease. So much so that it took her a few moments to remember that she’d been asked a question before perking up, lifting the lower part of her face above the scarf she wore and finally speaking.

“Oh. Yeah. Lost. I was looking for the guidance office. I’m, uh… new.” Taylor glanced around the hallway, flushing as she considered how daft that must have sounded. An amused chuckle from the redhead drew her focus back toward her, and Taylor blushed a touch as she sank her face back into the safety of her scarf as the older girl started to speak with a coy smirk on her lips.

“I figured, I imagine that with a fashion sense as bold as yours, I’d have noticed you before now.” Blinking in confusion, Taylor tilted her head, glancing down when the girl pointed. Taylor stared at the simple black sweater she wore over a subtle grey shirt. Black pants, boots. She’d intentionally picked the most subtle things she could find from her mother’s things; she wasn’t sur-

Oh, the scarf. Of course.

“Oh.” Reaching up, Taylor pulled the scarf away from her mouth and smiled nervously. “This? Do you like it? I wasn’t sure about it, but it’s kind of super warm. It’s not mine, though; It used to belong to my mom.” Taylor smiled quietly and glanced up, taking in the curious look from the older girl.

“Used to?” The girl spoke softly, her tone moderating, and Taylor blinked, wondering if she’d missed something, lips curling into a frown as she puzzled over the words. After a second, a flicker of recognition ran through her, and she nodded slowly.

“Yeah, she’s uh. She’s not with us anymore.” Taylor watched the girl’s eyes widen, and she waved a hand, not wanting to look like that strange girl that didn’t talk about anything but her dead parent. She pressed on quickly. “It was a few years ago. I’m staying with my grandmother. My wardrobe was a bit barren in the wake of the move, and I borrowed a few of her things.” Taylor shrugged and held out her arms as if to demonstrate.

“Well,” The girl inspected her for a moment, nervously adjusting her hair as she responded, opting to focus on the scarf instead of Taylor's comments. “It suits you apparently, very retro.” Taylor nodded her head jerkily and lowered her arms, lifting the ends of the massive scarf and inspecting it.

“I was surprised, though, now that you mention it. Mom never really… mentioned anything about being into this kind of thing.” Taylor frowned thoughtfully, inspecting the fabric. “It’s… odd to think of all the things that I never realized that we’d had in common. It’s… nice though? Finding something that connects us like that.” Shaking her head, Taylor glanced up, blinking at the narrow eyes of the girl before her and flushing. “Oh. I’m Taylor, by the way. Sorry about rambling on like that.” The girl didn’t seem annoyed, though, merely offering her a smirk.

“Charlie. This is Lily.” The girl nodded her head toward the other girl, and Taylor finally glanced properly at Charlie’s friend. Lily wasn’t as tall as Charlie, or even Taylor herself. She was dressed more sedately, blacks and grays like Taylor with large headphones hanging around her neck. Short dark hair framed the girl's pale round face. The girl was still a touch older than her, though, and Taylor couldn’t quite shake the feeling that the girl was peering straight into her soul, the way those dark eyes trailed over her searchingly. Flushing a bit, Taylor pushed her hair back from her eyes, glancing back to Charlie again, noting that the redhead was also staring at Lily strangely.

“So,” Taylor started slowly, causing Charlie to turn back toward her, perking an eyebrow. “Do you know how I’d find the guidance counsellor’s office? I need to speak with a Mister Saviero.” Taylor watched as the older girl leaned back and pointed down one of the hallway branches next to the cafeteria.

“Guidance office is building A. We’re in building B. You just need to go down that corridor, and up the flight of stairs. Go up one floor, down the hall and swing a right when you see the glass corridor, you’ll see the Library on your left, go down that hall there, and then you’ll be in building A, you’ll have to go down the stairs and then take the first right and you’ll be where you need to go.” Taylor paused, taking a moment to commit the instructions to memory before flashing the girl a thankful look.

“Thanks, Charlie.” She took a step back, pausing and shifting nervously on her feet before turning back to the two girls, adding an awkward smile and pressing on. “I uh, hope you two have a good day.” Awkwardly waving, Taylor took a step back and spun, vanishing down the corridor and heading for the staircase, the entire time berating herself for opting to _wave_ of all things.

Her self-beratement was short-lived, as Taylor opted instead to focus on recalling the directions. Up a flight of stairs, down a hallway past more milling students. Swing right, walk down a corridor between a library filled with more students and an open-air patio, also filled with even more students. Into an older looking building and then down a different flight of stairs, and, true to Charlie’s words, when she swung a left, there was the office that she’d been expecting to see.

Moving down the hallway, Taylor passed ‘Administration’ and headed toward ‘Guidance,’ opting to push the door open instead of spending any more time standing in the hallways and feeling nervous about all of this. The room beyond looked like it was as old as the building itself. Antique chairs and benches, desks, and even old wooden doors with a frosted glass each stencilled with a name.

A polite cough startled Taylor out of her observations, and she turned, finding a kindly old man sitting behind a computer and staring at her with a look of subtle curiousity on his face. Reaching into her bag with a blush, Taylor fished out her documentation and sidled up to the desk, speaking softly.

“Hey, I’m Taylor Heber-” She paused, the sound of the bell ringing out above. From outside the door, the sound of feet moving grew louder and then quieter and then she was left in silence once more. Clearing her throat, Taylor pushed on. “Sorry, Taylor Hebert. I’m a transfer? I think my grandmothe-” The man chuckled, reaching out a hand and taking the documents.

“You’re Mary’s granddaughter, then? She was in last week to arrange things.” The man adjusted his glasses, glancing down at the page before him and reading it before glancing at the doors, speaking absently. “I’m not sure if Mister Saviero is ready for you just yet, so why don’t you take a seat and I’ll let him know that you’re here.”

Nodding, Taylor moved over toward the benches and dropped down onto one. She curiously watched the receptionist as he lifted his phone and dialled something into it. There were a few moments of silence before he spoke softly into the phone. When the man nodded and hung up and didn’t glance back at her, Taylor turned her attention to the table before her, scooping up a magazine and carefully opening it to a random page.

Staring with an abject fascination of the close up of a spider’s face, Taylor turned her attention to the article next to the image, chewing her lip as she read. National Geographic, an expose on Black Widow Spiders. Shuddering, Taylor settled in to curiously pick apart the detailed analysis of the species and its impact on North America culture. She’d made it about halfway through the story when a mildly accented voice spoke over her shoulder.

“Dreadful things.” Taylor glanced up, staring in mild confusion at the tall, dark-skinned man that’d been looming over her chair. He was tall, completely bald and dressed in professional slacks and a comfortable-looking sweater, his hands resting neatly in his pockets. When she met his eyes, the older man offered her an understated smile that made his kind eyes sparkle and reached out a hand toward her. Taking it, Taylor shook it smoothly. “Spiders, that is. I’m Carlos Saviero, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet you finally. Your grandmother spoke of you, glowingly. Shall we?” The man gestured to the side and Taylor nodded, grabbing her things and slipping to her feet, following the man toward the office.

The older man held the door to his office for her, and Taylor stepped into the room, moving toward the desk and placing her bag, scarf and jacket in one of the chairs opposite it. Sliding down into the other chair, Taylor watched as the man closed the door and slid around the desk, taking a seat and placing her transfer documentation on the desktop between them.

Taylor was surprised when the older man didn’t open the documents immediately, moving to lace his fingers together while resting his elbows on the desk. Glancing up, Taylor shifted in place, feeling the older man’s eyes pinning her in place. She felt oddly on the spot as the older man considered her thoughtfully for a few moments before actually saying anything.

“So, as I mentioned earlier, your grandmother has spoken with me extensively about your situation.” Blinking, Taylor frowned, flushing as the man continued, turning to glance down at the documents before him, carefully paging through them, a faint look of distaste on his features as he read. Taylor’s cheeks burned faintly in embarrassment as she imagined the things that had been printed on the documents, though the man’s muttered _‘Savages’_ under his breath did help a little to cool her embarrassment. With a sigh and a shake of his head, the man lifted the papers and set them smoothly to the side, turning to stare directly at Taylor, pressing the tips of his fingers together.

“Your grandmother mentioned that you had undergone some tutoring over the last month? Placement tests and the like?” Blinking, Taylor glanced at the man before pulling her bag into her lap and unwrapping it. She reached in, collecting the letter from her tutor that she’d left within, and offered it to her. Saviero took it, carefully opening the envelope to get at the letter itself. Taylor sat in silence, observing the man as he read the pages before carefully tucking the letter away and setting it on his desk. The man considered the letter and the pile of paper from Winslow for a few moments before straightening his back and turning to stare directly at Taylor.

“So. Taylor, I’m unsure if you’re aware of the extent of the favours that your grandmother has called in on your behalf to ensure that this…” The man cut himself off, merely tapping the documents from Winslow before continuing slowly. “... doesn’t affect your future, going forward.” Glancing between the man and the documents, Taylor curiously lifted an eyebrow. Sensing her confusion, the bald man spoke smoothly.

“Personally, I would have taken her at her word, Taylor. Mary McBride was a teacher at Oak Valley when I attended this school, and she’s always been a fair woman, stern but fair. But she went far and above in this case, The chancellor of education herself called me last week to ensure that this goes smoothly. Your grades for your freshman year aren’t… great, but they’re not as bad as the first half of sophomore.” The heat of embarrassment burned the back of her throat and Taylor contemplated speaking up, explaining that it hadn’t been her fault, but the man pressed on thoughtfully. “Your tutor included your scores here, and for the moment, we’ll take them at face value, but you will probably be obligated to sit examinations in the coming months to make them official.” Glancing up at her the man, lifted an eyebrow and Taylor nodded jerkily.

“Th-that sounds fair.” She watched the man nod quietly, turning to the computer to his left and moving to start typing some things into it for a few moments before clicking something with his mouse. To the left, the printer whirred to life and pages began to spool out. The man considered Taylor for a few more moments before speaking again.

“You will be given warning before the exams, time to review that I expect your grandmother will ensure you make the most of, Miss Hebert. This is a second chance, Taylor, and I hope that you choose to make the most of it. Someone went to a great deal of effort to drag you down, and I hope that you’ll use this chance to make sure that they fail. That being said, unlike Winslow, this school has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and bullying. If you find yourself being targeted, inform another teacher or me immediately, and it _will_ be handled.” The man stared at her until she nodded and then moved to pull the freshly printed paper to rest before him.

“So. This is your schedule, Taylor.” The man held out the first bit of paper, and Taylor took a glance down at the blocked out diagram on it. Times, class names and room numbers stared back at her as Saviero kept talking. “Oak Valley uses your typical eight-period system. We’ve assigned you the mandatory classes, but left you with three spares for the moment. You’ll have seven days to review the electives available, and I’ll expect you to pick at least two that you’ll be enrolled in.” The man set two booklets before her and Taylor scooped them up, realizing that they were the class lists, and then she turned to stare into Saviero’s dark eyes curiously.

“Here’s your locker combination and number,” The man handed over another slip and stared at her for a moment before continuing. “If you haven’t got any further questions, I’ll let you get moving so that you can catch the remainder of your English class.” Taylor frowned nervously, but when it became clear that she didn’t have anything to say, the man pulled out a yellow slip from his desk and began to quickly jot down a note on it, filling in the form. While the man worked, Taylor stuffed the booklets into her bag and began to gather her things.

Pushing to her feet, Taylor accepted the yellow scrap of paper from Saviero, muttering an aborted thanks and shuffling out of the room, then returning the receptionist’s friendly smile before vanishing out into the hall. Luckily, Taylor’s locker wasn’t hard to find; she merely had to follow the lockers down the hall on the first floor of the building she was in until she found the right number.

Her belongings were stuffed into the locker, coat and scarf hung up as neatly as one could, and Taylor was left standing in her dark clothes with her bag hung from her shoulder. Glancing around, Taylor considered her schedule for a moment staring in confusion at the room number.

_‘504.’_ Taylor mentally considered it, looking at the nearest rooms. 106, and 107. The rooms on the floor above had been in the 200s, which meant that the third floor was probably the 300. Could it be in the other building, maybe? Moving down the hall, Taylor headed up the stairs once more and headed toward the library, moving down the hall and coming to a stop at the end of the hall, checking the numbers on the doors closest to her.

_‘703, what?’_ Blinking in confusion, Taylor stared down at her document until a soft, warm voice drifted in her direction.

“Lost again?” There was a hint of curiosity and concern there, and Taylor jerked up, spinning around. Charlie’s friend, Lily, stood a short distance away, staring at Taylor. Doing her best to keep from shifting under the weight of those dark eyes on her, Taylor flushed again as she waved her schedule around a bit helplessly.

“Y-Yeah, the numbering system is weird. I’m looking for 504?” The older girl’s expression remained thoughtful for a moment before she quirked her lips into a smirk and slowly shook her head.

“It can be a bit baffling to new people. I got lost a lot when I first got here. An easy trick is to remember that Building A is 1, 2, and 3. Building C is 4 and 5, and Building B is 6, 7, and 8.” The girl paused and smirked as she gestured around, pausing to explain. “Building A was here first, then B, and then C was added last to connect them, it’s why the numbers are odd. C is connected to both though C’s first floor is the second floor of the other two.” Lily shifted, pointing down the corridor behind Taylor.

“Building B is the building that you first came in through, with the main cafeteria. 504 is on the upper floor, so, you actually passed the door on your way to Guidance. It’s just on the other side of the stairwell. Go down this hall, through the door to the stairwell there, and then across to the other building, and you’ll see 501 on the left, should be easy to find your way from there..” The girl flashed her a smile and Taylor returned it, turning to glance down the corridor in the direction that Lily had indicated.

Turning back, Taylor saw that Lily had turned to head off, and she called out in the girl’s wake, thanking her. Lily paused, turning to nod in her direction and Taylor turned and slipped off, making her way down the hallway. True to Lily’s directions, less than five minutes later, she was standing outside a door that read 504. The faint sound of talking was audible from within, and Taylor opened the door, peering into the room.

“- and that’s how we get back to Faulkner-” The woman at the front of the room came to a stop, turning to stare toward the door with an eager smile on her face. Tall, with narrow, pinched features and vibrant red hair, the woman seemed approachable. Waving a hand, the woman indicated she should enter, speaking boldly. “Yes, something I can help you with?”

“Oh, uh, I’m new.” Slipping into the room, Taylor held up the scrap of bright yellow paper that Saviero had handed her, doing her best to smile at the woman as she stood from where she’d rested against the edge of the desk and approached. The woman took the paper from her hand, checked it and flashed her a smile, speaking quickly.

“Taylor, yes?” The woman glanced at her for confirmation and Taylor nodded, causing the woman to flash her a grin. “I’m Miss Barrs, it's nice to meet you, Taylor. Why don’t you take a seat where there’s room. I’ll see about getting you the necessary books. Luckily you haven’t missed much, just a bit of review.” Nodding, Taylor let out a sigh at the thought that at least she wouldn’t be expected to introduce herself to the class. She peered around at the assembled students, and she could feel the eyes sliding off her as the class turned to follow the teacher as she headed for the front of the room.

Moving down the aisles, Taylor dropped herself in an empty chair, glancing around at the others nearby, watching as everyone remained focused on the woman by the blackboard. When Miss Barrs resumed her speech apparently from where she’d left off, Taylor shifted forward in her seat, sitting up and flipping her book open, scrabbling for a pencil to take notes.

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It was the noise, Taylor admitted, that was what made this place so much different than Winslow. There was never… silence. Even in the halls between classes, you could always hear someone talking, someone moving. And in classes, or worse, the cafeteria, where Taylor found herself now, there was so much noise.

Walking across the cafeteria, her bag held tightly in one hand, Taylor felt as if she was being buoyed on a sea of sound. People weren’t even shouting, but there were over four hundred people in the massive room, all of them talking softly, shifting around, and all the tiny noises added up to a fairly noticeable undercurrent of white noise that left Taylor feeling a bit out of her depth.

Making her way toward an empty table, Taylor slid onto the bench, dropping her bag before her and glancing around thoughtfully, studying the people. She searched for the Emmas and Madisons of this school, and her eyes drifted over the crowds and struggled. No one looked popular; no one looked like an outcast. If there was a hierarchy at play, Taylor couldn’t see it. As far as she could tell, people were just… scattered out, talking to their friends.

It reminded her of the classrooms she’d visited so far. Every time she’d been greeted with the rest of the class, and she’d gotten a few curious looks before everyone had moved on, and they’d settled into class, and it’d been both liberating and terrifying to Taylor. Everyone had pulled out their books and their pens, and they’d all settled in. Taylor had been merely one of the faceless crowd.

One arm braced on her desk, the other pen in hand, Taylor had carefully written down the words that the teachers had said, the whisper of her pencil over the rough paper dissolving into merely another wave in an ebbing and flowing ocean of sound around her.

At first, it’d been intoxicating to Taylor, being merely one of the crowd, another face that blended into the rest. And, even now, part of her still luxuriated in that sensation, the freedom that it brought her, but another part of her was utterly terrified at the idea of what she might become without all those eyes on her giving her-

“Taylor, right?” The words startled Taylor out of her thoughts, and she jerked up, blinking as she turned toward the familiar voice. The taller girl with the red hair was leaning over her table, a wide smile on her face and a tray of food in her hands. “Saw you were sitting by yourself, thought I’d invite myself to join you…” The older girl shifted toward the bench and paused, peering at her and blinking. “That is if you don’t mind?” Startled, Taylor shifted forward and nodded quickly.

“Oh. Yeah. It’s fine. Charlie, yeah?” Taylor shifted forward, doing her best to offer a friendly smile as the older girl dropped onto the other bench and placed her tray before her, and nodded smoothly.

“Yeah, Charlie. Short for Charlene, but I prefer Charlie.” The girl flashed her a smile before staring down at her food distastefully and taking out a fork, carefully scooping up one of the bits of brownish material that was either a roast or a meat-loaf and wincing. Carefully setting the food back on her plate, the older girl glanced up at her and Taylor flushed at being caught staring. Charlie didn’t seem to notice, smoothly continuing to speak. “So! Did you end up finding the Guidance office, alright?” Taylor blinked, and nodded, responding as she reached into her bag, searching for her lunch within.

“Yeah, your directions were pretty spot on, actually. I got a bit lost afterward, but I ran into your friend in the hall, Lily?” Taylor glanced curiously at the girl, noticing the surprised raise of the other girl’s eyebrows as she continued while setting her lunch on the table. “She got me back on track, explained how the numbers work.” Smiling, Taylor opened up her bag, peering in curiously to see what’s been packed for her.

“Yeah, Lily’s helpful like that.” Taylor glanced up, staring at Charlie and blinking curiously at the odd look on her face. When the other girl caught her looking, she straightened up, smiling simply and leaning forward. “Opted to the brown bag instead of braving the cafeteria? Good choice, apparently.” Taylor chuckled and pulled out the contents. A sandwich made with leftover corned beef, an apple, some cookies from the batch they’d cooked yesterday, and a five-dollar bill, presumably to buy something to go with it.

Glancing at the unappetizing mess on Charlie’s tray, Taylor unwrapped her food and took half the sandwich before offering the other half over to the redhead. When Charlie blinked and laughed, Taylor couldn’t quite restrain the smile that spread across her face at the bold sound.

“You sure?” The question was curious, and Taylor shrugged, smiling all the more when the other girl snatched the food casually and took a bite, letting out a faint sound of enjoyment. The girl chewed quickly before swallowing and speaking up. “What is this?” She pulled the top off the sandwich and stared at the sliced meat on it curiously.

“Corned beef. My grandmother made it Sunday night for dinner.” Taylor laughed at the strange look that came to the other girl’s face, grinning at the question that followed.

“...huh. I’d kind of always assumed that that was just some strange form of lunch meat.” Taylor nodded in agreement, taking a bite from her own half of the sandwich and chewing thoughtfully. It didn’t take long for Charlie to devour her half of the food, and before Taylor knew it, she was fielding more questions. “So, how have your classes been? Who’ve you got so far?” Swallowing quickly, Taylor covered her mouth with the back her hand and responded.

“I had Barrs for English, and Paul for Math, after lunch I’ve got-” Taylor paused as a figure in black and white suddenly appeared at the edge of the table, stalking around it and dropping into a place next to Charlie.

“Hey, why’re we sitting over here, I thought you were planning on kicking Rory’s ass with your new blue control-” Taking the opportune moment to grab one of the napkins off of Charlie’s tray, Taylor wiped her mouth, glancing up when Lily cut off, surprised to find the girl staring at her in shock. Nervously shifting in place, Taylor glanced at Charlie, who chimed in helpfully to break the silence.

“Saw Taylor sitting by herself and figured that I’d see how her day is going. Besides, I heard from Rolph that Rory’s actually plotting something with a Carnage Tyrant that doesn’t sound like my idea of fun.” Blinking in confusion, Taylor glanced between the two girls, trying to decipher what the words meant. Thankfully, Charlie took pity on her and switched the conversation back onto the more neutral ground, gesturing toward her with a nod and continuing. “Taylor was just telling me about her classes. She had English with Barrs this morning.” Charlie laughed when Lily groaned and turned toward a bemused Taylor, leaning forward and speaking conspiratorially.

“Lily is one of Barrs’ favourite students, she’s taken English and Drama with her every year since we were freshmen, and they always get into these massive debates that basically derail entire classes for, like, twenty minutes at a time. It’s epic.” Taylor tilted her head, trying to picture the girl she’d seen around facing off against the boisterous teacher that she’d had this morning, the pair loudly arguing, and the image brought a faint smile to her lips.

Glancing up, she saw another strange look on Lily’s face, and she flushed and turned back to Charlie, who was smirking at her, shrinking back into her seat. Opting to distract the pair from their frank looks, she pulled the wrapped cookies toward herself and unwrapped them, offering them to the girls. Charlie easily snatched one up and took a huge bite. Lily seemed more hesitant, but after a moment, she reached out, taking one and offering a soft thanks before testing it carefully with her teeth. The look of faint surprise and enjoyment on Lily’s features was rather satisfying, though a bit less so then the faint noise of enjoyment from Charlie.

“So, I guess we can all see why Taylor brings her lunch from home instead of eating this junk.” The faint good-natured grumbling brought a faint tinge of red to Taylor’s cheeks, but she focused on her own cookie.

“So, what classes do you got? You said Math with Mister Paul and English with Barrs.” Instead of trying to talk through her cookie, Taylor fished out her class schedule and handed it over, watching as both girls leaned together, pulling it closer and curiously inspecting it. “What’s with all the spares, your schedule is more sparse than Lily’s, and she’s in an AP program that keeps her out of the school like a third of the time.” Taylor glanced at Lily curiously, a little impressed at that. The AP program at Winslow had been monumentally difficult to earn a placement in. The older girl seemed to shrink back under the comment and Taylor turned back to Charlie, speaking once she’d swallowed the food in her mouth.

“I transferred in pretty late, so I didn’t have time to pick my electives. I’ve got a week to go over the books and figure out what I want in the empty slots.” The long sound of understanding from Charlie was amusing, and the girl leaned forward and stared at the schedule.

“Did they give you a-” The girl trailed off when Taylor fished out the list of electives and reached out to grab it, flipping it open and inspecting it curiously. “You have any idea about what you want to take? What’d you take in your old school?” Taylor blinked and frowned, staring down at the book.

“I had two shop classes, and, uh, comp sci.” The girls glanced at her and Taylor shrugged her shoulders nervously, and fiddled with the sleeves of her sweater.

“I guess you’re fond of sharp things then?” Charlie’s voice was laced with amusement, teasing and Taylor shrugged one of her shoulders and hesitantly spoke.

“Not so much? Kind of more of a fan of music and, uh, the humanities? Just. Those were classes where I could avoid certain people.” Taylor trailed off, and thankfully neither of the other girls forced her to elaborate, merely turned back to the table. Charlie pointed to one of the entries in the booklet and spoke up.

“Well, we’ve got drama, with Barrs, it’s probably pretty entertaining, even without Lily getting into a shouting match with the teacher.” The girl laughed at the elbow that launched her way and continued on. “But there’s a whole music section here. Choir, Instrumental, Jazz. We’ve got an entire guitar class…”

Leaning forward, Taylor absently nibbled at the cookie in her hand, listening as Charlie started to describe the classes that she’d had experience in, occasionally glancing over whenever Lily would chime in with a subtle comment here or there related to her own experience with this teacher, or that one, some distantly familiar warmth floating up through her form as she savored the conversation.

▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Fun fact; I’m terrible at directions. I literally messed up every direction given in this chapter and Noel had to go through and highlight them all and force me to fix them. So thaaaaat’s fun.
> 
> Oak Valley is, at least structurally, based off a school that I attended in my youth, though it’s been scaled up a bit to accommodate the typical school population of a school in Queens. The name is made up to avoid any comparisons to real schools.
> 
> Charlie’s kind of badass and she wasn't actually in this fic before, it was Lily that originally approached Taylor when she looked lost, but I sort of enjoy how this reads a bit more, and Charlie seems like the kind of character that would adopt a wayward kid like Taylor.
> 
> She also mains a Blue Control Deck, so I mean she’s a dirty rotten cheater, but don’t tell her that I said that. Originally this chapter including a few more scenes, but when I hit (And went over) the cap, I opted to push some of those back out to later days which I think is probably for the best, give things a chance to simmer a bit, settle before pushing things forward.
> 
> Looking forward to all of your delightful reactions though.]]


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[...I'm apparently terrible at keeping these things strictly under 6k, but I am doing my best, dag nabbit.]]

_February 5th, 2011_   
_Oak Valley Secondary School, Queens_

  
  
Leaning forward on the uncomfortable chair, Taylor rested her arms on the desktop before her, doing her best to hold in the amused chuckles that were coming out of her lips, as the tall thin woman sitting behind her desk at the front of the room didn’t even bother to attempt to restrain her own merry chuckles, even when she tried to speak through them.  
  
“...though, now that I think about it, perhaps you shouldn’t let your grandmother know that I told you _that_ particular story.” Nodding absently in agreement, Taylor shifted back in her seat as her phone let out a sharp ding. Wondering who it could be, Taylor picked up the phone, flipping it over and checking the face. _Charlie._ Blinking, Taylor’s eyes widened when she realized that she’d forgotten something important.  
  
“Places to be?” The older woman’s voice startled Taylor out of her thoughts, and she glanced up, nodding, reaching over and grabbing her bag from where she’d dropped it next to the chair.  
  
“Yeah, sorry. I promised Charlie that I’d go to this club thing she runs. The _Triangles_?.” Taylor glanced up, blinking when the older woman nodded calmly and shifted forward on her chair.  
  
“Well, I won’t keep you any longer then, but seriously, Taylor. You should think about the class. I think it’d do you some good to have a chance to express yourself, and I can’t help but imagine that you’d be an interesting addition to the class.” Nodding smoothly, Taylor slid to her feet and slung her bag over her shoulder.  
  
“Yeah, I’ll keep it in mind. I haven’t really settled on anything yet, but I’ve only got till Monday, so I imagine you’ll know soon enough.” Flashing the woman a quick smile, Taylor ducked across the room, heading for the door.  
  
“Oh, and Taylor?” Pausing in the door, Taylor glanced back to see the woman’s mischievous smile. “Remind Charlie and Lily that they’ve got a project due on Monday.” Blinking, Taylor nodded quickly and slipped out of the room. She was halfway down the hallway before her phone dinged again, and she slid to a halt, fishing out her phone once more.  
  
The phone was new, a ‘late Christmas gift’ from her grandmother that Taylor still felt obnoxiously guilty about. Despite how much her grandmother had assured her that she was financially stable enough to afford a few small things to make Taylor’s life a bit easier, years of living with her dad, scrimping and saving every last penny left her feeling… uncomfortable whenever she was confronted with having to spend the sort of money that her grandmother had dished out on the phone and laptop that she’d purchased for her.  
  
Her phone dinging for the third time dragged her out of her thoughts, and she fumbled with it for a moment, still unused to unlocking the damned thing before she could finally read the messages.  
  
 ** _[Taaaaaaaylor, you’re laaaaaate.]  
  
[Did you forget about meeeeee?]  
  
[Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaylor :C]_**  
  
Feeling a grin tugging at her lips at the deluge of messages, Taylor adjusted her bag before moving to lean against the wall, using her thumbs to swipe out a response quickly.  
  
 ** _[Sorry! I got caught up with Barrs; she was trying to convince me to take Drama as one of my electives. Also, she says to remind you that you’ve got a project due on Monday. I’m heading to my locker right now.]_**  
  
Shaking her head, Taylor glanced up and blinked, freezing as she saw the thick swirling mass of snow falling sedately outside the window. Staring at the powder as it fell, Taylor stepped closer to the window and marvelled at the fresh new thick blanket of snow that was rapidly starting to coat everything.  
  
Frowning, Taylor looked back at her phone and pulled up the weather forecast, staring in disbelief at the projected volume of snowfall over the next twenty-four hours. Shaking her head, Taylor quickly swiped back over to the conversation with Charlie and moved to type out another message.  
  
 ** _[Though, actually considering the rapidly developing blizzard, I might have to take a rain-check… snow-check? If I don’t leave soon, my bus might be cancelled, and I kind of don’t want to have to walk home in this. Next meeting, though?]_**  
  
Taylor stared at the unread messages, waiting as she bit her bottom lip. She felt a bit guilty about bailing out; Charlie had been talking up this meeting most of the week.  
  
 ** _[Boo. Fair enough, though. I just looked outside, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a fun walk. Now I’m all alone, though, you and Lily both bailed on me.]_**  
  
Rolling her eyes, Taylor headed toward the stairs as she replied.  
  
 ** _[Don’t you have an entire group of people there with you?]_**  
  
This time there was barely a hesitation before Charlie’s reply came back.  
  
 ** _[It’s not the same without my adoring fans, though.]_**  
  
Rolling her eyes, Taylor didn’t dignify that text with a response, stuffing her phone away and paying more attention to where she was going. Across the stairwell, down two hallways and down another flight of stairs saw her approaching her locker.  
  
Three precise twirls of a dial later, and Taylor was wiggling into her jacket, zipping up the heavy olive coat and wrapping her obnoxious scarf around herself once more. Stuffing her books into her bag, Taylor slung it back over her shoulder and locked her locker before heading for the door, tugging her mittens on as she went.  
  
Looming in the large double doors of the school, Taylor stared out over the snowy landscape and frowned. Opting to head out the front door instead of trudging back across the school, Taylor stepped out into the falling snow. Her boots crunched noisily in the powder as she made her way down the steps and across the yard, heading toward the street and glancing left and right to see where the nearest bus stop was.  
  
Thankfully she spotted a shelter nearby and quickly moved through the snow toward it, only realizing that the shelter was occupied when she’d nearly arrived. The familiar head of short black hair tipped her off, and Taylor hesitated, staring at Lily’s back as she sat on the tiny bench in the shelter, staring intently down at her phone. She stood there, staring at the tension visible in the girl’s form, the way her hands shook just a bit as she gripped her phone tightly.  
  
Part of Taylor was tempted to just move on, find the next stop and wait there and leave Lily to whatever was troubling her. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the girl, Taylor often found Lily to be insightful and charming in her own way, but there was this… distance that existed between them. Charlie had ostensibly adopted Taylor; the redhead was a constant companion when they weren’t in class, dragging Taylor to and fro to meet this group or that one, or just sitting in companionable quiet while they ate.  
  
Lily occasionally joined them, at least when she wasn’t out of school as part of her advanced placements, but often Taylor found herself the object of Lily’s scrutiny, and that was a strange feeling. Sitting there as someone tried to pick your secrets apart with their eyes. Charlie had said that Lily had had issues at her old school and that she didn’t trust easily, and Taylor could understand that, but it was still… disconcerting at times.  
  
That being said, Taylor could imagine Charlie’s face if she’d have seen Lily like this, and that’s what prompted her to step around the shelter, moving into it. Lily glanced up at the sound of her approach, and Taylor flashed the girl a friendly smile, pretending she didn’t see the redness in her face, the puffiness of her eyes, merely turning and stamping the snow off her boots, staring out at the falling flakes.  
  
The silence dragged out between them, and Taylor tucked her mittens into her coat, keeping her attention forward despite being able to practically feel Lily’s eyes burning into the side of her face.  
  
“You’re late getting out tonight.” The comment was soft, coming out without any hint of whatever inner turmoil was clinging to Lily and Taylor shrugged her shoulders, staring out over the white street.  
  
“Barrs got ahold of me, wanted to take one last serious attempt to convince me to take Drama.” Taylor paused, glancing over at Lily and offering the girl a wry smile. “She asked me to remind you and Charlie that you’ve got an assignment due Monday.” Taylor’s lips quirked into a smile when the older girl chuckled weakly, brushing her hair back from her face.  
  
“Speaking of Charlie,” Lily started, staring up at her. “Weren’t you supposed to be at the Triangles meeting tonight?” Taylor studied Lily thoughtfully, a tiny frown spreading over her lips as she wondered that if Lily was out here, she’d bailed on the meeting because she’d assumed that Taylor would be there. Rather than dwelling on the thought, though, Taylor shook her head, answering Lily’s question.  
  
“The weather was turning, and by the time that Barrs let me go, I’d already missed half of the meeting, so I suggested next time.” Tucking her hands deeper into her pockets, Taylor let out a thoughtful hum and continued when Lily didn’t respond. “And, I think that I, uh, was sort of hoping for an excuse to get out of meeting anyone new this week. Charlie’s sort of been a force of nature.” Lily’s answering chuckle was soothing, and Taylor pressed on tentatively. “And, uh… what about you? Why’d you miss it?” There was a lingering silence in the wake of that question, at least until Lily let out a tired sigh.  
  
“Same, really. I wasn’t feeling up to dealing with a group of excitable teenagers, I think.” Taylor glanced back at Lily, studying the girl as she turned her attention back to her phone, staring at the messages on the screen, seemingly lost in thought.  
  
Frowning, Taylor fidgeted with her mittens, glancing up the street, staring at the few cars that were moving past and silently praying that a bus would come, that she’d be saved from this awkward situation. Sadly, the city transit system didn’t seem inclined to deliver, and the snow continued to fall, and so the only things that drove past the end of the road were more people carefully braving the rising snow to get home.  
  
Realizing that there’d be no easy out from this particular situation, Taylor tightened her hands into fists, tensing her shoulders up and turning toward Lily, speaking quietly.  
  
“So, uh… I’ve got some saved up lunch money that I haven’t used, and I've kind of been craving a good hot chocolate for the last, like, two days? You wouldn’t happen to know anywhere good nearby?” Taylor screwed up her focus, keeping herself from fidgeting or biting her lip when Lily lifted her head to stare at her. The girl’s intense scrutiny lingered over her features for a few more moments before she shifted forward and grabbed her bag.  
  
“Yeah, there’s a coffee shop not too far away, actually. We could head over if you want?” The hesitant smile on the other girl’s face was reassuring, and Taylor felt the tension bleeding out of her spine as she nodded and buried the lower half of her face into her scarf, hiding her features once more. Taylor lingered in place as Lily stared at her for a moment longer before stepping past her and out of the shelter.  
  
Taylor exited the shelter in Lily’s wake and followed her up the street, watching as the bus finally came trundling past them as they were halfway up the block.  
  
  


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Taylor wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting when she’d invited Lily out for coffee, but _‘Jumpstart’_ wasn’t it. The shop itself was tucked out of the way, down several side streets from the school, and they’d even actually had to descend from street level to enter the place. And the dark, imposing wooden door and the clouded windows had all evoked an image that hadn’t prepared Taylor for what was honestly a rather bohemian coffee shop within.  
  
Dark wooden furniture filled the space, accompanied by comfortable chairs, evocative art on the walls, and a stage to one side of the shop with a single stool and lonely microphone stand on it. Across from the stage, a massive bar stretched along the rear of the room, and on second inspection, it turned out that it obscured a coffee machine large enough that Taylor was reasonably certain that it could double as a steam engine if they really needed it to.  
  
The cafe was fairly quiet at the moment they trundled in out of the snow, and Taylor followed Lily’s lead, stamping the snow off of her boots and moving to tug off her jacket and scarf to hang them on the large hooks by the door. Taylor did take a moment to fish through the pockets on her coat, grabbing her keys, wallet and phone and stuffing them into her pants pockets. She’d been about to make a joke to Lily about how she’d expected to see more berets on the hook in a place like this when the other girl offering up a faint snort drew her attention.  
  
The older girl was standing a few steps away; arms crossed as she stared at her and Taylor glanced down at her outfit, a bit self-consciously. White blouse with loose sleeves, suspenders, and simple straight-cut black pants. An outfit recovered from her mother’s collection. Flushing quietly at the girl’s bald examination, Taylor lifted a hand and ran it through her short hair nervously.  
  
“Oh, uh… Yeah, More of my mom’s things, actually. I saw them and couldn’t resist trying them on, Barrs said that they suited me, bit more feminine than most that try this look while still being… dapper? They’re not terribly out of fashion, are they?” Taylor glanced at Lily, relaxing a bit when the girl shook her head.  
  
“No, just a surprise is all. They look fine.” Chuckling, the older girl gestured toward the bar and Taylor hesitated, glancing around the dark room and searching the walls for something that resembled a bathroom sign.  
  
“I’ve actually gotta hit up the bathroom? I’ll meet you over there?” Lily nodded, and Taylor wove her way through the tables, making her way toward the Betty Boop sign that she was pretty sure indicated the ladies.  
  
When she emerged a few minutes later, Taylor was surprised to see that familiar tension visible in Lily’s form, the girl now standing at the bar and speaking quietly with a girl behind the counter. Judging by the white shirt and black pants that the girl wore, she was probably one of the baristas, though the way her features were set into a stony mask wasn’t particularly welcoming. The girl was tall, with dark skin and short black hair, several shiny piercings visible scattered between her lips, nose and eyebrow. Worried that a fight might break out, Taylor made her way toward the two girls.  
  
The barista glanced up at her approach, narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to speak to Lily, though Taylor only managed to catch the last few words as she slid up closer to the bar.  
  
“-ot a type, Lily.” The words were oddly harsh, and the girl didn’t look at her again, merely turning and stalking off toward the large door that presumably led into the rear of the shop. Taylor glanced at Lily, taking in her own stony features and opted to add this to the pile of other things that she should probably not ask Lily about. Thankfully, they were saved from having to find a way to segue away from that uncomfortable situation when a man dressed just like the girl stepped out, drying his hands on a towel and approached them with a smile.  
  
“Have you been served?”Shaking her head, Taylor stepped closer to the bar. She checked the blackboard above it for a moment before ordering a muffin and what looked to be the least complicated of the four hot chocolates on display. The man’s friendly smile put her at ease as he jotted down her order and glanced at Lily before turning back to her. “Is that everything?”  
  
“What’re you having?” Taylor turned to stare at Lily, blinking when the older girl tried to wave her off.  
  
“It’s fine Taylor, I can-” Rolling her eyes, Taylor smoothly cut Lily off, waving the other girl closer to the counter.  
  
“It’s a cup of coffee, Lily, just tell the man what you want.” At this point, Taylor wasn’t surprised when that familiar thoughtful stare settled on her again, but at least Lily didn’t argue, merely stepping forward and turning to speak with the barista. Once the order had been taken, Taylor offered over a ten-dollar bill and told the man to keep the change, turning to glance at the tables thoughtfully when the man indicated that they should take a seat.  
  
“There’s a nice table over here in the corner.” Lily had already started moving as she’d spoken, and Taylor fell into step behind her, weaving between the tables toward the far corner of the cafe. The booth that Lily settled into was nice enough, directly under one of the heating vents, it was warm, and it afforded a rather spectacular view of the nearby stage.  
  
“So.” Rather than languish in an even more awkward silence, Taylor spoke up, resting her elbows comfortably on the table as she stared at Lily. “How’d you find out about this place? It’s…” Taylor trailed off, not really sure what the place was, exactly. Impressive, certainly, perhaps even fascinating.  
  
“Charlie.” The word was uttered with a faintly amused undertone, and Taylor nodded as she glanced around. This certainly seemed like the sort of place that the older girl would enjoy. “It’s apparently one of her favourite haunts after work. She’s got a weakness for poets. But they _do_ offer an excellent espresso here.” Nodding absently, Taylor frowned when Lily fell silent again, letting the silence hang for a few moments this time, at least until the barista had brought their drinks and left them alone to stare absently into their mugs.  
  
“Alright,” Taylor started with as much confidence as she could, feeling a small thrill of satisfaction when Lily started a bit and glanced in her direction. “There’s… clearly, some things that we’d both probably rather not discuss, but I think that if we want to make things a bit less awkward, we might have to bite the bullet here.” Watching Lily’s eyes widening was actually a tiny bit amusing, but Taylor didn’t let her panic too much.  
  
“I’ll offer you a deal. I’ve seen you… staring.” Taylor saw Lily’s cheeks heating up, and she shook her head, quickly cutting in. “It’s fine, I- I imagine that you’re probably pretty curious about what brought me here in the middle of a semester, which I guess is only natural.” Rubbing at her arm, Taylor stared down at her cup, tapping a finger against the handle thoughtfully. Screwing up her courage, Taylor lifted her head, looking Lily in the eye. “I’ve got a proposition for you.” Watching Lily’s jaw drop just a touch, Taylor pressed on quickly before her courage gave out.  
  
“As you can imagine, I- Well, I did see you out at the bus stop, and uh. I like it, I mean… You’re cool, Lily, and I don’t... “ Pausing, Taylor lifted a hand to pinch her nose, taking a slow breath and starting at the beginning. “I’ll… explain, in… broad terms, what brought me here, and in exchange, you can share what you’d be willing to share, about what’s bothering you, and then after that… We’ll both agree that we won’t press, but at least we won’t be as worried about each other… seem fair?” Taylor stared at Lily, fighting the urge to bite her lip as the girl stared back at her, clearly surprised, but at least outwardly appearing to consider the suggestion.  
  
“...Sure.” Letting out a slow breath, Taylor felt a flicker of relief as the other girl offered a nervous, almost hesitant nod. Shifting back in her seat, Taylor drew her hands up into her lap and nervously fiddled with her fingernails as she considered how to start with her own story, biting softly at her bottom lip.  
  
“I- uh… I was bullied pretty badly at my old school…” Pausing, Taylor lifted her eyes and took a short breath, watching as Lily leaned forward curiously. Studying the other girl, Taylor pushed on as confidently as she could, considering the way her heart was rattling against her ribcage. “It started not long after I entered my freshman year, and went right up till like… last Christmas?” Oddly, the curiosity fading into compassion in the older girl’s eyes made it harder to hold them, and Taylor’s gaze dropped to her cooling beverage as she continued.  
  
“It got… bad. Destroying assignments, harassing me in the halls. I’d basically started eating lunch in the bathroom so I could get away from them. I was… not handling it well, and I guess my Dad could tell… he confronted me a few days into winter break, and I sort of broke down, told him everything.” Taylor frowned as she reached out, fiddling with the handle of her mug once more, not feeling quite brave enough to look up at Lily as she continued. “I didn’t actually expect for him to be able to, like, do _anything_ about?” Taylor laughed softly, lifting a hand and wiping away the moisture that’d been gathering at the corner of her eyes. “I just wanted him to stop asking why I was so sad all the time. But, he did fix it. Or at least he tried.” Frowning, Taylor took a short breath, staring at the swirls of white whipped cream slowly melting into the dark brown beverage.  
  
“Tried?” Lily’s question was tentative, and Taylor laughed softly, almost bitterly as she shrugged her shoulders.  
  
“He started with the school, tried to talk to teachers, counsellors, the principal. Nothing came of that, at first until he… did stuff. Got people to record _them_ being, well… themselves. They weren’t especially careful away from the school, and it was easier to get proof that they’d been harassing me. And then he took it to the school, forced them to act. Our classes were all separated, and they were suspended. It looked like I’d finally been saved, but...” Taylor frowned softly.  
  
“But?” Lily spoke up again, and Taylor lifted her head, finally meeting Lily’s eyes, a bit surprised by the vaguely angry expression on the girl’s face. It took her a few moments to realize that the anger was probably on her behalf and not directed _at_ her. Shrugging one of her shoulders, Taylor waved a hand.  
  
“But, beyond being terrible people, they hadn’t done anything _criminal_. They got the suspension, the black marks on their records, and then they were back in school. I had to deal with them between classes, in the cafeteria. They didn’t stop talking about me, just to me, and the school didn’t seem inclined to do anything about it. Most people just, like, watched… waiting to see what would happen? Dead girl walking and all that.” Rubbing at her cheek, Taylor let out a sigh and finally lifted her drink, taking a sip. Setting her mug down, she continued quietly. “Still, even like that, things were better, and I assumed they’d get bored eventually, move on. But, I guess they were just waiting for me, or I guess my dad, to let our guard down?” Feeling something wet on the tip of her nose, Taylor lifted her hand, wiping the whipped cream from it and laughing tiredly as she wiped it off with a cloth.  
  
“It happened when I was at my locker between classes one day. I was switching out my textbooks, and someone crashed into me from behind it was all elbows, they slammed me into the locker a bit, and several other people followed suit.” Taylor frowned at her cup again, slowly finishing off her story. “They stepped on my heels, or elbowed me all the while saying sorry over and over, and I felt several people pull my hair.” Taylor frowned thoughtfully at her cup.  
  
“And then they were all gone, tossing snide apologies behind them.” Taylor frowned, clenching her hand and imagining the pain that’d tinged that wrist for several days afterward. “It took me a while to even check my hair, and that was when I realized that someone had smashed a large ball of wet gum into it when they’d been pushing me. They ended up having to take off like two-thirds of my hair. When the school started going on about how there was no way for them to know who’d done it to me if I hadn’t just done it to myself… Dad flipped. I was out here like… a week later?”  
  
When Lily didn’t respond immediately, Taylor lifted her head, staring at the older girl. Lily was clearly furious; her hands curled into tiny fists on the table as she glared down at the surface of it. Taylor was tempted to open her mouth to say something, anything to clear that anger, feeling equal parts embarrassed and touched that she seemed this upset. It took Lily a few moments to speak; her expression smoothing over as she glanced up.  
  
“Charlie suspected it was something like that. You seemed a bit… nervous around people.” Taylor studied Lily for a few moments before shrugging her shoulders and offering the other girl a tentative smile.  
  
“It was a shock, being uh, glommed on like that. But it’s helped. This whole… thing has been kind of a blessing in disguise, though? Things have been... better since I got here. The school’s a bit scarier, but… no one really stares at me, and I’ve got you and Charlie around, and you’re both pretty cool and…” Taylor trailed off, chuckling nervously as she pushed her hair back from her eyes.  
  
Half a dozen sentences started in the back of Taylor’s mind, but none of them made it to her lips as she silently observed Lily. The older girl nodded absently in a way that let Taylor know that she’d gotten the gist of what Taylor had been trying to say, but Lily’s attention quickly settled on her mug once more. Taylor wondered if she’d have to remind Lily about their ‘deal,’ when the girl finally spoke.  
  
“My Mom’s dying.” The words were uttered softly, not quite under Lily’s breath, but they were so matter-of-fact that it staggered Taylor. “Well, she’s not- My adoptive mom, Gertie. She’s... “ Lily trailed off again, her knuckles visibly whitening around the handle of her mug as she glared at the murky liquid.  
  
 _‘Jesus.’_  
  
“...Jesus, Lily. I’m sorry.” Taylor stared in muted shock at Lily, staring at the girl as their roles suddenly swapped. Lily’s form shrank back a bit; hands come up to grip the mug before her like it might be a lifeline, or perhaps some sort of shield.  
  
“It’s Leukemia. She’s had it for a while now, but… things aren’t going great.” Lily continued in that small voice, almost as if she hadn’t heard Taylor’s muttered apology, absently fiddling with the cup. “...She’s gotten pretty weak, and they don’t move her around much anymore, and they were doing a treatment at the house this afternoon, and I just... I couldn’t-” Lily trailed off and Taylor stared at the other girl, desperately trying to figure out what you could say in response to a comment like that.  
  
“I promised myself when it all started happening again that I’d be there for her, that I’d be… strong, for her, and I’m trying but… It’s hard.” Lily’s voice cracked a touch and Taylor shifted forward quietly, staring at the other girl. “Some days, I just… I just don’t want to go back there and be faced with that. She’s- every day it feels like she’s slipping away just a little more and it’s-” The girl paused, taking a heavy breath. “I just… I can’t do anything, and that’s so…”  
  
Taylor stared at the solemn look on Lily’s face, taking in that familiar tension in her shoulders, and she frowned quietly. She studied the stubborn set of Lily’s jaw and the way the older girl’s teeth were grinding and she could almost see flashbacks of her own face in the mirror back when she’d been _so_ determined to keep everything bottled up, to protect her dad, to allow him the time that he deserved to grieve. Staring at that familiar face, Taylor felt her mouth open, and she uttered something without thinking, something that she’d wished someone had said to her all those years ago.  
  
“You know that you’re entitled to your grief, right, Lily?” Taylor almost instantly regretted the words when Lily’s head snapped up, the girl’s red eyes locked onto hers. Shifting back, Taylor pressed on, fiddling with her sleeves. “You- That is, _we’re_ just kids, Lily… You’re allowed to be hurt or confused. Your mom is **dying** , and you love her, and you’re _allowed_ to be angry and hurt about that, you’re allowed to need some time to yourself…” The other girl stared at her and Taylor fidgeted in place, pressing on.  
  
“You’re allowed to scream, and cry, and to let the world know that this isn’t fair. **No-** one will blame you for that, Lily.” Taylor shifted silently forward in her seat, resting her elbows on the table. “You’re allowed to occasionally be selfish, or bitter, Lily, to think of yourself first. And, and, if you can’t handle seeing her like that, you’re allowed to just hide out with Charlie at a meeting, or drag me out for coffee or whatever.” Flushing, Taylor let out a gentle sigh, her tone turning sombre.  
  
“That… being said, Lily. You do have an… opportunity here that most people don’t get.” Catching the other girl staring at her strangely out of the corner of her eye, Taylor silently rubbed her arm, staring at the table as she continued. “It’s just… my mom died a few years back, Lily. And, like, one of my biggest regrets is that I never got to say goodbye to her… I never got to… **Ask** her about so much.” Taylor frowned down at her coffee before moving up to touch her hair.  
  
“I used to wear my hair long, you know? Like, down past my shoulders, nearly to mid-back, cause that’s how my mom wore hers, and it was only after I came here that I saw that when she was my age, my mom wore her hair like this.” Taylor adjusted her locks, more to reference what she was talking about as opposed to any attempt to improve her looks. “And I mean, it suits my face better, I think? Frames it properly, makes my cheekbones a bit less wide, and-” Pausing, Taylor shook her head, cutting herself off.  
  
“The point is, that’s something that I never got to talk to her about…” Frowning quietly. “I used to dream about like, being there in the car with her, and trying to say goodbye only for her to miss it, or for something tragic to happen, and that’s… I’d have given _anything_ for a chance to be with her, to make sure that she understood that I loved her when she went.” Taylor frowned down at the table, nervously dragging the tip of her fingernail over the rough grain of the table. Sighing softly, Taylor shrugged her shoulders and fiddled with her cup in silence.  
  
“I imagine that she knew that you loved her, Taylor,” The words were tentative, and Taylor glanced up at the other girl, blinking at the sad smile on her face. “Moms kind of have this… superpower, I think. And I bet she’d tell you that you look great like this, but you probably looked great before as well. But since she’s not here, you’ll just have to take my word for it.” Taylor blinked at the comment, cheeks burning as she bowed her head, taking another drink of her now cold chocolate.  
  
Lily was just being nice, but it was a nice sentiment all the same. Silence returned to the table, but it was less heavy, less laden with unasked questions, and once things had settled a bit, Taylor gestured over to the nearby stage.  
  
“You mentioned Charlie and poets? Do they do spoken word here? Slam poetry?” Taylor felt her lips quirking into a smirk as Lily let out a tiny chuckle, and then leaned forward as the other girl launched into a tale about Charlie and her long term obsession with a poet that frequented the cafe named ‘Blake’, the older girl dropping into a detailed description of how Charlie would often wax poetic about how her and Blake’s souls were intertwined and that it was so very clear in Blake’s art.  
  
The growing smile on Lily’s face as she chattered away was particularly comforting to Taylor as the wind continued to rattle the windows outside, snow falling heavily.  
  
  


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_‘Sonofa-’_ A sharp gust of wind and a plume of light powdery snow washed up off the snowbank at the curb outside the townhouse and smashed right into Taylor’s face, scouring her already frozen features and leaving her sputtering as Lily, the traitor, huddled into her back and used her as a god-damned windbreak.  
  
The unpleasant snowfall of the earlier afternoon had only continued to grow worse as they’d drank their coffee and when they stepped out into the actual blizzard, only to discover that the busses were all either running exceptionally late or outright cancelled. Thus, they’d ended up trudging the twenty minutes of snow-treading to get back to Taylor’s place instead of trying their luck at the bus stops along the way.  
  
This was apparently the right course of action, as for the entirety of their unpleasant hike, they haven't seen a single bus trundling past them. Quickly moving up the steps to the house before another traitorous bout of wind could hit her, Taylor tugged off her glove, pulling out her keys and slotting them into the door.  
  
A quick twist to unlock the door and she swung it inwards, admitting Lily into the small landing area at the base of the townhouse before following her in and slamming the door against the wind and snow with a long low sigh of relief. This relief lasted approximated twenty seconds until a voice came calling down the stairs.  
  
“Taylor? Is that you? You’re a bit late getting back; I was getting worried about you being out in this kind of weather.” Taylor tugged off her scarf, moving to hang it by the door as she shouted back up the stairs.  
  
“Yeah, Gram. It’s me. I went out for coffee with a friend after school.” Lily glanced at her and Taylor shrugged, moving to unzip her jacket, hanging it up with her scarf. After a moment, Lily moved to do the same, pulling off her coat and gloves and hanging them next to Taylor’s.  
  
“Oh! I found the rest of those trashy vampire hunter books that you were reading, Taylor. I was out in the garage today looking for where I’d put your grandfather’s records, and I found them tucked away in a box with a bunch of old manuals.” Taylor felt her cheeks heating, dread swirling in her gut as her grandmother plowed on. “Though, I’d forgotten how racy these things got, dear. Why this Werewolf fella on the cover of this one is-”  
  
“Gram!” Taylor cried out with a strangled voice, doing her best to ignore Lily’s faint chuckles from beside. “We’ve got company!” There was a muted chuckle from Lily’s direction, and Taylor shot the girl a narrow-eyed look as her grandmother called down a smart comment in reply.  
  
“Oh? Is she interested in bare-chested werewolf men as well?” Cheeks burning bright red, Taylor wished that she’d left her scarf on so she’d have something to hide behind as Lily answered for her.  
  
“I imagine that a werewolf would be rather scruffy, Taylor’s Gram. Probably not to my tastes.” There was a short bark of laughter from up the stairs, followed by the sound of feet moving across the floor and down towards them. Kicking off her boots, Taylor glanced at Lily’s wide teasing smirk before turning to watch her grandmother appear at the top of the stairs, staring down at them with her hands on her hips.  
  
“Well, are you going to stand there in the melting snow and get frost-bite, or are you going to come in.” Huffing, Taylor moved out of the hallway and climbed up the stairs, glancing back to be sure that Lily was following. Her grandmother vanished back up the stairs and into the kitchen once more, and Taylor followed her.  
  
“Lily lives a bit further away than me, and the buses are sort of delayed? Or cancelled? I figured that she could hang out for a bit until things get a bit less hairy outside?” Taylor stared at her grandmother nervously as the woman turned to look at her curiously before turning and offering her hands out to Lily.  
  
“Lily, was it?” The woman took both of Lily’s hands in her own, giving them a gentle grip, and then she flashed the younger girl a quick smile. “It’s nice to meet you, dear, I’m Mary. You’re welcome to shelter up as long as you like, though the storm’s supposed to last through most of the night. If it doesn’t ease up at all by dinner, I’ll give you a lift home, alright?” Taylor was surprised at the ease that the woman accepted Lily into her home, though she wasn’t quite sure why she should be. “Is Meatloaf okay with you, Lily? No issues with meat or bread?”  
  
“Er, yeah- but you don’t have to-” Lily tried to stammer her way through some sort of gentle rebuttal, but Taylor watched her grandmother smoothly brush off the worries with an ease that left her feeling frankly jealous.  
  
“It’s no trouble at all, dear. Why don’t you two go find something to amuse yourselves, dinner will be in about an hour.” Lily hesitated for a moment before turning toward her. Shrugging, Taylor gestured toward the stairs that lead up toward the living room, and then beyond that, the bedrooms and Lily headed toward her. “Oh, and Lily, dear? Make sure that your parents know that you’re someplace out of the storm?” Taylor watched Lily hesitate for a moment before nodding quickly and scurrying toward her.  
  
Taylor led the way up the stairs and to her bedroom, opening the door to admit Lily. The room looked fairly close to how it had when she’d first brought her mother’s things down, the only notable additions being a large bookshelf next to her bed, and the laptop on the desk.  
  
“Neat, Retro.” Lily’s voice drifted over her shoulder, and Taylor flashed the girl an enthusiastic smile as she headed over to perch on the edge of her bed. Lily meandered, though, carefully slipping through the room and inspecting the details thoughtfully. She studied the posters, the knick-knacks on the various horizontal surfaces, and skimmed past the pile of books that her grandmother had helpfully left out on her dresser.  
  
Thankfully, the girl moved quickly and settled her attention on the open case filled with her records. Taylor watched as Lily thumbed through them thoughtfully, leaning forward as she seemingly got a bit lost in the various albums.  
  
“There’s an AV jack that I got for the player, we could just hook up our-” Taylor trailed off when Lily pulled out a record sleeve, flipped it over to read the tracklist on the back and then expertly slid it from the sleeve and set it to playing on the record player. As the music started around them, the girl turned and flashed her a smile.  
  
“Gotta love Whitney Houston, right?” The girl’s teasing smile soothed the anxiousness that had begun to creep into her as Lily was inspecting her things, and the older girl dropped into a seat on the nearby chair. “So…” Lily set her hands on her knees, tapping her knees with her fingers and staring at her curiously. Taylor leaned forward, finally voicing a question that had been bothering her all afternoon.  
  
“Seriously, though, what assignment was Barrs talking about?” Taylor blinked when Lily let out an amused laugh, before launching into an explanation about the homework that the ‘old bat’ had assigned the pair of them.  
  
  


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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[As always, I'd like to take a moment to thank Noelemahc for taking the time to trawl through this with me. A lot of the ease of reading that you nerds get is due to his influence =P
> 
> As for the chapter itself, we get some detail on exactly what happened to Taylor, and what's going on with Lily. And we get to see a bit more about how Taylor's life is changing. And they finally start to get over that awkward hurdle between them. Friends, huzzah! This is probably the end of the purely establishing chapters, and things will begin to very slowly ramp up going forward, so that's something to look forward to. So, my next update will be to Hebert Heavy Industries, so we'll see our next update to this story sometime early next week, probably.
> 
> As Noel guessed, they were listening to uh, I wanna dance with somebody there at the end.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Huzzah, IA4 is out. =] It only took three people to comb over this thing and make it look passable. xD. Thanks to Juff, Lark, and Noelemahc for all their hard work making this all flow smoothly.]]

_February 7th, 2011_   
_Queens, New York_

  
Swallowing a yawn, Taylor lifted one hand, rubbing tiredly at her eye as she glanced down to check her watch on the other wrist. When she saw that she still had nearly ten minutes until she’d actually have to be here, Taylor silently bemoaned her decision from earlier this morning to not let herself press the snooze button even once.  
  
Rapidly blinking her eyes, Taylor shook her head, as if the action could slap some life into her exhausted bones. Taylor’s attention drifted skyward, and she stared at the murky grey sky, the sun still too low to peek past the buildings around her, and she couldn’t quite keep a smile off her face as she considered _why_ she’d been up till two in the morning when she should have been sleeping to get up at seven.  
  
It was… strange, having friends again. People that would text you, and who you'd want to text back. As much as she might regret it now, it had been difficult to contemplate just setting her phone down in the moment; even asking Charlie if they could finish their chat come morning felt impossible. Even now, standing out here in the cold and still half-awake despite a long shower, breakfast, and a ten-minute hike through the snow, Taylor could admit that, if offered a do-over, she’d probably do it again.  
  
The sound of brakes screeching startled her out of her musings, and she scrabbled back from the curb _just_ in time to avoid the icy slush that the bus splashed up as it pulled up. Stepping up and out of the cold when the door opened, Taylor stamped her boots off on the rubber mat, rifling through her pockets to locate her wallet.  
  
Fishing out her transit pass, Taylor inserted it into the farebox, offering the bored driver a polite smile as the light flashed twice before releasing a familiar ding. Once she had her card in hand once more, Taylor stuffed it back into her wallet and turned to stumble down the aisle of the bus as it pulled away from the curb, trundling down the sleepy snow-laden streets.  
  
Taylor’s heart sank when she lifted her head and noticed how packed the bus was, though the disappointment at having to stand for the twenty minutes between here and school faded almost instantly when she spotted a very familiar face in the crowd. Lily glanced at her, offering up a hesitant smile that Taylor returned after a moment, padding toward the older girl.  
  
Almost unconsciously, Taylor lifted one of her hands to adjust her scarf and jacket and smoothed down her hair as she walked past several large men who looked just as tired as she felt. She climbed into the rear of the bus and moved toward Lily, and saw the girl’s cheeks color subtly when she glanced up at her.  
  
“Lily, hey.” As Taylor spoke, Lily moved her bag off the seat next to her, and Taylor smoothly slid into the vacated seat, accepting the paper cup that the other girl offered. She lifted the cup, popped the top, and took a short inhale of the rich chocolatey aroma, before flashing Lily a thankful smile. “Oh, uh… Thanks. What brings you out to the boonies? Something going on with the 55?”  
  
“Mmmm. Not really. I just woke up a bit early this morning, realized that I only had to leave ten minutes earlier to get this route, and then I could keep you company on the ride in.” Lily glanced out the windows as she took a sip of her coffee. Taylor stared at her, watching the way she carefully studied the old buildings and houses that drifted past in the early-morning gloom. “It’s a bit more scenic, actually.”  
  
“Yeah, bit longer though, isn't it?” Taylor offered, peering at Lily and blinking when the girl shrugged one of her shoulders before taking a sip of the coffee in her hands.  
  
“Eh, the company makes up for an extra ten minutes on the bus, don’t you think?” Lily turned toward her, a friendly smile on her face. This time it was Taylor’s cheeks that colored as she quickly turned away, finding refuge in her own cup. She tested the dark liquid within and sighed as the hot chocolate hit her tongue. Thankfully, it had clearly had enough time to cool a bit, and she took a long pull before settling back in her seat.  
  
“So what’d you get up to this weekend? Charlie blew up my phone, but you were kind of quiet.” Taylor spoke softly, glancing at Lily, and noted the relief on the older girl’s face that hinted that the subject change was appreciated. Lily stared back at her for a moment before offering a tiny smile.  
  
“I uh, talked to Gertie.” Taylor returned the smile as Lily spoke while adjusting her jacket. “Told her about how I’d been feeling, what you said. We spent most of the weekend just chatting about stuff.” She smiled faintly down at her cup, the tip of her thumb dragging over the raised edges of the plastic lid. “It was… good. She understands, which was more surprising to me than it should have been. She’s kind of amazing.”  
  
“She sounds pretty great,” Taylor responded softly, turning to let her gaze wander the bus as Lily’s attention returned to the buildings drifting past. The warm air in the bus soaked into her through her jacket and gloves, and Taylor let out a faint yawn.  
  
“She- uh, asked me to invite you over for dinner sometime, if you want.” Taylor shifted curiously and blinked when Lily glanced back at her. Lily continued, speaking a touch quickly. “I uh- I mentioned you while we were talking. She knows Charlie as well, she just likes to keep up to date with my friends, it’s kind of-” Taylor cut her off with a lazy wave of the hand.  
  
“It’s fine; I’d love to meet her. You’ve made her sound pretty fascinating. Just lemme know the time.” Taylor shifted into a more comfortable position, doing her best to swallow the yawn that wanted to escape. “Where do you live, anyway? I know that you take the subway in, Charlie mentioned that, but you never really said.”  
  
“Up in Forest Hills.” Taylor’s mind scrabbled at the name of the neighborhood that Lily gave, struggling to remember where that was. Lily’s warm chuckle washing over her, the girl evidently catching onto her confusion. “It’s up to the North West. It’s a fifteen-minute subway ride, and then the bus ride.” Nodding, Taylor glanced at Lily.  
  
“You’ve lived there long?” Taylor’s question seemed to surprise Lily, causing the older girl to stare at her a touch strangely before responding slowly.  
  
“Yeah, since I was eleven, that’s when Gertie first got me. It’s a nice house. A bit big for just the two of us, though.” Nodding absently, Taylor did her best to swallow another yawn as Lily described the house to her. The motion of the bus and its warmth made it hard to focus.  
  
“Taylor.” The words poked at her, dragging her out of the warm doze that she’d sunk into, and Taylor lifted a hand, rubbing tiredly at her eye again. A gentle nudge and Taylor felt someone shifting against her, that voice coming again, words tinged with faint hints of embarrassment and regret. “We’re nearly at school, Taylor; you need to wake up.”  
  
 _‘Lily? Why’s she in my-’_  
  
It took Taylor longer than it really should have to pick up on the fact that the warm wool against her cheek wasn’t her quilt. In the end, it was the lingering scent of coffee and the faint motion of breathing that allowed Taylor to cotton onto the fact that she wasn’t in her bed. She dozed off against Lily’s side. Jerking up, Taylor shifted away from Lily, her cheeks a brilliant crimson. She turned to the other girl, seeing a matching color on the older girl’s face, and she coughed.  
  
“S-Sorry,” Taylor stuttered out nervously, brushing her hair back from her face and glancing down to see if she’d lost her drink. It took her a moment to figure out that Lily had it back in her hands once more, and she let out a faint sigh of relief. “I uh, didn’t sleep well last night. Charlie was explaining that Magic card game thing to me, or... trying, at least?” Taylor chuckled nervously, cheeks still burning as Lily let out a faint scoff.  
  
“Charlie’s the sort of person that _loves_ dragging her friends into her passions.” Turning toward the other girl, Taylor watched as Lily rolled her eyes and adjusted her bag. “She likes to share the things she loves with the people she cares about, so you should _really_ look forward to when the ground isn’t frozen, and she can drag you out LARPing.” Shaking her head, Lily offered Taylor’s drink back to her, and she accepted it sheepishly.  
  
Before Taylor could respond, the bus lurched slowly to a halt, and Taylor glanced out the window at the school. Blinking in surprise, Taylor scrabbled out of her seat, stepping back to let Lily shift out ahead of her. She followed the shorter girl down and off the bus and up the steps toward the school.  
  
Walking side by side with Lily, Taylor stared at her out of the corner of her eye, watching the color fading from the older girl’s cheeks. Taylor was tempted to apologize again for dozing off like that, but when she opened her mouth, the words wouldn’t come. Her mouth closing abruptly, Taylor let out a sigh as she glanced around. She was surprised that some people were willing to brave winter morning outside the school, even with the faint rays of sun peeking out past the cloud cover above.  
  
Taking a drink of her now cold chocolate, Taylor quickly bounded up the steps, pulling the door open for Lily, chuckling when the girl shot her a look, then followed her into the school. Unlike Taylor, whose locker was clear on the other side of the building, Lily’s locker was right around the corner, and Taylor ended up leaning against Charlie’s next to it, holding Lily’s coffee as she rifled around within.  
  
“So, as if it isn’t enough that you two brats went to my favorite coffee shop without me after bailing on our meeting, now you’re coming into school together as well?” The familiar voice drifted their way, and Taylor watched Lily’s ears turning a brilliant crimson for a moment before turning to stare at Charlie.  
  
The redheaded girl was standing off to the side, hands on her hips, showing off a branded t-shirt that read ‘#TeamAlice,’ whatever that meant and staring at them with a look of mock irritation on her face.  
  
“We uh, we just went to get some hot chocolate and to talk,” Taylor commented faintly, rolling her eyes when Charlie scoffed and strode over. Taylor opened her mouth to protest when the older girl snagged Lily’s coffee out of her hand and took a sip. Lily turned to shoot the redhead a look loaded with _something,_ and Charlie rolled her eyes, handing the drink back. “Fine, but you two are coming back with me tonight. Monday is the Poetry Slam night, and I want a chance to give you an actual tour.”  
  
“Charlie-” Lily cut in, her voice laced with resignation, and Taylor stared at the older girl as Lily’s lips pressed into a line.  
  
“I don’t mind,” Taylor commented quickly, cutting Lily off. Both of the girls turned to stare at her curiously, and Taylor did her best to keep the smile on her face. “It was fun, and it might be interesting to see it active. And who doesn’t love poetry?” Lily’s eyes still lingered on her as she spoke, and Taylor flashed the older girl a quick smile, earning herself an almost amused sigh.  
  
“You know, Taylor, if you let Charlie walk all over you like this, you’ll be in for quite the adventurous two years.” Lily’s comment drew a gasp of mock outrage from Charlie, causing the redhead to punch the other girl in the arm playfully. With a huff, Charlie stepped away from Lily, settling next to Taylor and looping their arms together.  
  
“Just for that, Taylor’s my new best friend.” Glancing nervously between the pair to assure herself that the banter was entirely playful, Taylor felt her cheeks burning at the game that the other two were playing.  
  
“Good luck, Taylor.” Turning back to Lily, Taylor caught the girl’s wicked grin as she continued with an almost droll tone. “Don’t forget that you can’t feed her after midnight, get her wet, or expose her to bright lights, or she’ll explode.” Grinning back, Taylor rolled her eyes at Lily. She’d actually managed to get one of the references that the girls made.  
  
“I think at this point; the food rule’s already been broken.” Taylor glanced at Charlie, pretending to inspect her casually. “Definitely more Gremlin than Mogwai, I think.” Charlie’s fake gasp of betrayal caused Taylor’s grin to grow, and she ducked away from the older girl’s casual swat, swooping around behind Lily to hide, despite the difference in their heights making the action pointless.  
  
  


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Taylor stared at the six cards in her hand, carefully inspecting each one. Between Charlie’s detailed explanation last night, and Lily’s quick refresher a few minutes ago, Taylor understood how this game worked at the most basic of levels, but the nuance eluded her. Half the cards in her hand were the ‘Myr’ creatures that Lily had constructed the deck around, and she understood that they worked best when played together in groups, but the effects listed on each card were confusing.  
  
Glancing up, she caught the boy opposite staring at her impatiently. Hugo was one of Charlie and Lily’s friends, and he’d volunteered to help Lily show her how the game worked in practice. He seemed nice, despite the seriousness with which he apparently took the game. Shaking her head, Taylor turned her attention back to the cards and moved to grab the one with the highest numbers for its attack and defense that she actually had the resources to summon.  
  
A delicate cough to her left startled her, and Taylor froze, turning to look at Lily. The older girl was staring at her hand, and the look on her face indicated disapproval of the card she was holding. When Lily looked at her, Taylor raised an eyebrow, prompting the older girl to speak.  
  
“I uh, I wouldn’t start with that card. At this point, I’d probably-” Lily’s advice was cut off by the boy across from her.  
  
“Lily! Kibitzing.” The word didn’t mean anything to Taylor, but she did watch Lily wince, hunching her shoulders a touch while turning to speak to the boy.  
  
“Hugo, she doesn’t even understand the game. I was helping.” Lily’s voice was a mixture of exasperated and slightly embarrassed, and Taylor felt her own cheeks heating a touch as Hugo responded smoothly.  
  
“And she won’t learn anything if you just play the game for her. Let her make her mistakes.” The boy’s face was oddly serious, even though they were just playing a game. Lily shot her an apologetic look but didn’t say anything else, and Taylor blew out a breath, turning back to stare at her cards.  
  
Considering the words that Lily had managed to get out before Hugo had interrupted her, Taylor turned her attention to the other cards in her hand, contemplating each carefully. Dragging her fingers along the cards, Taylor hesitated when she felt a hand settling against the small of her back.  
  
She glanced at Lily, earning a scoff from across the table, but the older girl didn’t respond beyond offering a subtle half-smile. Once more dragging her fingers along the cards, Taylor stopped when Lily’s hand pressed into her spine, and she pulled the card that she’d been touching out, staring at it thoughtfully. It wasn’t ‘strong’ per se, but upon reading the description, Taylor realized that it was indestructible. It’d be helpful in defending her health pool.  
  
Setting the card down, Taylor smiled as Lily shifted closer, hand still on her back, clearly intent on seeing how Hugo would react. The boy offered them both a suspicious look, adjusting his glasses before setting down his own cards. The game continued like this, Taylor letting Lily guide her hand, and surprisingly managing to pick up enough of the rules as she wasn’t entirely reliant upon Lily’s guidance.  
  
It wasn’t enough to assure her a victory, sadly, despite some very lucky draws on Taylor’s part, however. Lily’s disappointment as the other boy tapped three cards and removed two-thirds of her health in a single move was oddly poignant. She opted to head over and get lunch as Taylor tidied up, and when Taylor noticed the other boy sorting out the cards and mixing them by hand, she moved to follow his efforts with Lily’s deck.  
  
“You’ve got a good eye for the game, Taylor. At this point, it’s mostly practice, and, I suppose, obtaining your own cards.” The boy flashed her a smile as he pushed to his feet, and Taylor followed suit, smoothing out Lily’s deck neatly.  
  
“I-uh, thanks. Hugo. It was fun.” The boy nodded absently, turning and heading down the table. Taylor watched him go, glancing at where Charlie sat a few seats over, sitting opposite a boy who hadn’t managed to catch on that Charlie was feigning her distress if the eager glint in his eyes was anything to go by.  
  
With a shake of her head, Taylor turned, glancing around to see where Lily had ended up. When she noticed her standing next to a taller boy with sandy blonde hair and a square jaw, however, all she could do was frown. The boy was speaking to Lily, his entire form visibly tense, and Lily looked equally uncomfortable to be speaking with him. Taylor moved across the linoleum floor, watching the boy’s dark brown eyes shift to settle on her for a moment.  
  
He muttered something to Lily before stepping away. The boy’s dark eyes lingered on her for a few more moments before he turned, heading across the cafeteria. Taylor turned to watch him go, blinking when she noticed a pair of green eyes on her. A girl with red hair and freckles sat alone at a table, staring at her. The look in the girl’s eyes was curious, confused, and she glanced away as the boy approached her. Taylor’s frown deepened as she considered the pair silently.  
  
“Taylor.” Lily’s voice drifted toward her, accompanied by the sound of tentative footsteps, and Taylor turned, taking in Lily’s harried expression. The older girl hesitated, opening her mouth only to end up closing it after a moment, words failing her.  
  
“What was that all about?” She watched as Lily glanced away from her, following the girl’s gaze toward where the two teens were sitting. The sandy-haired boy and the redhead girl seemed in the midst of a slightly heated discussion, and Taylor felt her brows furrowing as she took it in.  
  
“Nothing important, he’s in one of my AP classes, and I skipped out on a thing we were supposed to do Friday night,” The older girl didn’t seem concerned, but something about the tension in her shoulders told Taylor that this wasn’t the whole story.  
  
“Are you in trouble? I didn’t mean-” Taylor started, pausing when Lily stepped closer, shaking her head.  
  
“No, no. It’s fine. I called in and stuff. It’s stupid.” Shaking her head, Lily turned toward the bay of vendors and glanced at Taylor, clearly seeking to change the subject. “Pizza, I think? Can’t get that too badly wrong, right?” Lily grinned at her, and Taylor nodded, following.  
  
They ended up acquiring three slices and three bottles of juice, and Taylor followed Lily back toward the table. As they approached, the boy opposite Charlie said something with a flourish, setting a card down and almost talking to himself as he started to turn card after card, freezing when Charlie let out a playful cough.  
  
Taylor and Lily hesitated by the table, watching as Charlie started setting out blue cards on the table. Even though Taylor had little to no idea of what the actual cards did, the way the boy’s grin slowly faded along with the excited color in his cheeks was particularly telling. Despite having his entire scheme dismantled in front of him, the boy was a good sport about his loss, and Taylor watched, fascinated, as he chatted with Charlie, listening raptly as the older girl explained how to avoid having that happen again the next time.  
  
When the boy vanished, and Charlie started to clean up her cards, Taylor dropped onto the seat on the girl’s left, Lily taking her right.  
Taylor set a bottle of juice before Charlie as a pizza slice appeared on the other side. The trio dropped into a conversation about the game, Taylor eventually recounting her own loss.  
  
Oddly, instead of launching into a protracted examination of her mistakes, the other two girls seemingly changed tracks, quizzing her about her everything from her favorite color to what sort of fantasy creatures she liked while they whiled away the remainder of the lunch period.  
  
  


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Sandwiched between Lily and Charlie, Taylor stared out at the dimly lit cafe and was struck by how different one crowd could be from another. The place was _packed_ , but there was nothing of the impersonal wall of people that Taylor had so often been confronted with back at Winslow.  
  
People were moving around, spreading out between different conversations, mingling, and talking like it was a big party, and Taylor supposed that it was. Everyone recognized each other, and their faces constantly lit up. Smiles were offered around with such freedom that even Taylor ended up getting a few, laced with confusion as they were.  
  
Taylor was even drawn into a few conversations from people coming up to speak with Lily or Charlie, and introducing themselves to Taylor. The other two were speaking with an older boy with platinum blonde hair and pristine blue eyes, but Taylor’s attention wasn’t on the conversation about the boy’s latest disastrous date. She was focused on the crowd still.  
  
It wasn’t… loud. That was the biggest thing about her new school that stuck out to Taylor. The place was cacophonous, tiny sounds layering up and mingling together to form a veritable ocean of sound, but things were so much quieter here. Faint jazz music drifted down from speakers hidden in the darkness above the hanging lights, and everyone spoke so softly that it was more like a thin blanket of whispers wrapped around them, mingling with the occasional subtle cough or scrape of metal on tile.  
  
The sound rapidly fading away startled Taylor out of her contemplations, and she took a glance at the others. Everyone around the table turned as one to stare toward where she remembered the stage was. The people around the table moved, each of them locating seats or moving to squeeze against the walls. As the crowd cleared, Taylor stared curiously at the raised stage and the lone microphone that stood on it.  
  
A single overhead light illuminated the stand, becoming a beacon as the rest of the lights dimmed until the entire crowd was wreathed in near darkness. Then came the scuffle of movement, and a woman clambered up onto the stage, walking into the lit circle. She turned to wave at the crowd as she approached the mic.  
  
“Hello, Blake Ducharme here.” The girl spoke with a hint of subtle nervousness in her tone, even as her lips curled into a smile at the faint response that her comment got. Remembering the Blake that Lily had mentioned, Taylor glanced at Lily, earning herself a subtle smile and nod. Eyebrows raising, Taylor turned to peer at Charlie, taking in the intensity in the redhead’s eyes.  
  
Taylor turned to inspect the girl on the stage as she started to speak. She was heavier than Taylor, with brilliant, almost violently purple-blue hair and pale skin. Dressed in jet black clothing, coated in black make-up and with a number of gleaming piercings in her face, the girl was the polar opposite of the image that Taylor had cultivated in her mind from hearing Lily and Charlie’s descriptions. From the stories that she’d heard, Taylor had expected Blake to be a broody teenage boy of some sort.  
  
 _“-shit I believe in, but can’t prove. I fall in love with her quickly, the way she wanted me to, all skin and poem and diet coke, listening to Regina Spektor on her bed while she calls me ‘baby girl’ and plays with my hair,”_ the girl spoke, and Taylor focused on the words, her brow furrowing as she listened to the emotion laced in the pale girl’s tone. Adjusting the book in her hand, the girl continued, the tremor in her voice growing subtly as she went, _“When I find a boy’s hair in the rough drafts of her poems, I pretend not to.  
  
“When I ask her what she loved about him, she says; ‘I know this is bad, but he was so terrible to me that I never ran out of things to write about.’ I wonder if she wants a lover, or a writing prompt. There’s a certain high to hating yourself, she told me once-” _The girl’s voice deepened, bitterness lacing her tone, and Taylor turned to Charlie, frowning at the way the girl’s casual, easy smile had faded. Taylor took in the intense look in the older girl’s eye and the way that Charlie’s knuckles had whitened as she gripped the cup before her.  
  
Taylor turned to her own cup, frowning quietly in surprise at the clear upset in her friend’s features. Charlie generally took most things in stride, but the concern and secondhand anger on her face were surprising to see. Taylor’s gaze lingered on Charlie once more, drawn to the way her eyes softened as she stared at the stage. Taylor turned and froze, taking in the vulnerable look on Blake's face as she glanced back at them, still speaking.  
  
 _“-In an effort to get her to stay, I promise her; ‘I will be whatever you want me to be.’ She tells me; ‘That is the problem.’_ The girl fell silent, and Taylor swallowed as the poet stood there, listening to the applause, her eyes still lingering on Charlie, something unspoken passing between them. Feeling as if she’d witnessed something personal, Taylor flushed with embarrassment and shifted away as if that would give Charlie some semblance of privacy.  
  
Lily turned to her when Taylor ended up leaned into her side, and she blushed, shifting back away from Lily again, giving the girl some breathing room. Thoughts whirling with what she’d seen, Taylor hesitated when Lily opened her mouth, clearly about to ask what was wrong.  
  
Taylor’s phone rang at that moment, and she thanked whatever god might be listening for the save, tugging it out. She stared at the familiar number on the face and frowned, wondering why her father was calling now of all times. Waving the phone at Lily, she got an understanding nod, and Taylor nudged Charlie, breathing in relief as she pulled out of the booth and answered the call, holding it up her ear.  
  
“Dad?” Taylor tried, covering one of her ears and pressing the phone close. She heard some sort of indistinct sound too hard to hear over the murmur of the crowd. “Just a second, I’m in a cafe.” Quickly scooting along the edge of the crowd, Taylor glanced at the short-haired woman that walked up onto the stage and approached the mic. Sparing her coat a glance where it hung by the door, Taylor debated whether she needed to toss it on to step outside for a few moments, the sound of the woman speaking drawing her attention.  
  
 _“Dear Straight People.”_ The girl’s words made Taylor hesitate, and she glanced back at the stage, staring at the girl with the dark hair as she spoke. _“Who do you think you are, do you have to make it so obvious that I make you uncomfortable? Why do I make you uncomfortable, that makes me uncomfortable, and now we both uncomfortable.”_ The harsh comments and the way the girl spewed them forth made Taylor chuckle, despite herself. Her father’s voice drifting indistinctly up from the phone drew her back to the task at hand.  
  
Pushing out the door, Taylor froze at the brightness of the sky overhear. The dark bar had tricked her into thinking that it was later. Blinking to help her eyes adjust, Taylor glanced around at the snow-lined street, tugging her cardigan around her as she stared up at the falling snow.  
  
“-aylor?” The words came out when she pressed her phone to her ear.  
  
“Yeah, Dad, it’s me. Sorry. It was loud in there.” Taylor glanced at the door, moving up the steps and onto the street, walking around the edge of the fence that guarded the staircase down into Jumpstart. Taylor stared at the street for a moment, listening as her Dad hesitated before responding.  
  
“Where are you? I called you at your grandmother’s, and she said that you hadn’t come home after school.” Taylor blinked at the clear concern in his tone, and she shifted the phone to her other ear, checking the time on her watch. Not quite twenty after six. Frowning, Taylor responded softly.  
  
“I was uh, invited out by my friends. There’s a poetry slam thing at this cafe they like.” Taylor paused as her dad’s breath caught a bit, flushing at his response.  
  
“O-Oh. You’ve already made some friends, then?” His voice was soft, laced with something that Taylor couldn’t decipher, and her response was just as soft as she stared out at the empty street before her.  
  
“Yeah, Charlie, and Lily. They go to my school. They’re older than me, but they’re cool. They sorta adopted me on my first day, and we’ve been chatting a bunch since. They’re-” Taylor cut herself off, stopping her babbling, that blush still burning at her cheeks. Glancing down at the slushy pavement before her, Taylor finished the sentence. “They’re nice. It’s nice having people to talk to.” She listened to the silence on the other side of the line.  
  
“Th-That’s good, Taylor. I’m glad that things are going so well for you.” Taylor’s smile faded a bit at the clear sadness mixed into the happy words. Fiddling with her sweater, Taylor stared up, watching a bus trundling past. “What have you kids been getting up to?” The words were spoken with a bit less sadness, curiosity clear in the tone, and Taylor’s smile returned.  
  
Taylor spoke at length about the pair, explaining how they’d met, and what they’d been doing at school, even talking fondly about Lily and the troubles that she’d been having. Taylor’s smile continued to grow as she spoke, practically bragging about how **-good-** she was doing, how much better things were here. Her dad had never been an overly chatty man, and over the phone, this seemed worse, so Taylor was surprised when he gently cut her off as she’d been trying to explain the magic game to him.  
  
“I’m glad that you’re happy there, Taylor, and it’s getting late, so I probably shouldn’t keep you from your friends.” Taylor’s smile dimmed a bit as she adjusted her phone, listening to her father's breathing. “Things have been going well, yeah? You haven't had any issues with the walks to school and stuff?” Taylor blinked and glanced around.  
  
“I uh, take the bus mostly, dad, but I doubt that it’d be an issue if I had to walk. We’re not really in the city, you know? We’re apparently in a pretty good neighborhood.” Taylor listened as her father drew in a deep breath, his teeth clicking noticeably as he struggled to say something.  
  
“I understand, Taylor, just…” Taylor’s brow furrowed as her dad hesitated again before continuing with a weary sigh. “I just worry. It’s a big city, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Just… be careful. And let your grandmother know when you’re going to go out. And you should give me a call on Friday; I’d like to speak with you more.” Taylor agreed, frowning quietly at her phone once her dad had hung up. She stared at the molded plastic of her phone case curiously, wondering what’s been bothering him.  
  
Quickly shooting a text message off to her grandmother about where she was, Taylor let her arms fall, letting it rest against her leg as she stared down the street. She was drawn out of her contemplation by the sound of the door behind her creaking open. She turned, watching as Lily glanced up at her before stalking up and around the railing that she was leaning on.  
  
“Everything okay?” Lily’s voice was gentle, and Taylor stared at the other girl, offering her a smile, despite how cold she must have been in that thin shirt given the wind. The older girl walked past her to lean against the railing next to her, offering a curious smile. Taylor held up her phone, wiggling it.  
  
“Yeah, just my dad calling. He was worried when I didn’t get home. I guess I should have texted my grandmother that I was out.” Taylor watched Lily’s eyebrows furrowing thoughtfully at the comments, and she flashed the older girl a quick smile. “I texted her, let her know that I’m out here with you guys.” Lily blinked, nodding absently in agreement with her comment.  
  
“That’s good, wouldn’t do to have people worrying about you.” Lily flashed her a smile, and the older girl’s eyes lingered on her. Glancing back at Lily, Taylor frowned at the way that the older girl had pushed her shoulders up and pressed her arms to her sides, clearly feeling cold out here.  
  
“You must be freezing; I’ll be back inside in a minute; I just wanted some fresh air.” Speaking tentatively, Taylor nudged Lily with her shoulder to get her attention, smiling when the older girl turned to peer at her, cheeks darkening. Lily’s eyes lingered on her as she feigned a casual air.  
  
“It’s not that bad out here, and I like fresh air too.” The older girl took in a deep breath and grinned at Taylor as she spoke. “Brisk.” Rolling her eyes as she took in the subtle shiver in Lily’s form, Taylor reached up, pulling off her cardigan. It was a bit colder to be down to nothing but the slate grey turtleneck, but nothing _intolerable_.  
  
Reaching over, Taylor moved to drop the sweater around Lily, rolling her eyes when the girl started and stammered out a comment about being fine. Thankfully when Taylor didn’t dignify her lie with a response, the older girl slid her arms into the sweater, wrapping it around herself and shrinking down into it. Taylor settled for watching the snow as it slowly fell, the flakes settling in a blanket over the cars parked on the opposite side of the street. After a few moments of watching the snow, Lily stepped closer, her voice a conspiratory whisper.  
  
“Thanks, wasn’t looking forward to having to go back in there to face the hormonal teenagers.” Blinking, Taylor glanced at Lily, who offered her a tiny smile. “Blake came over to chat with Charlie, and they’re kind of goopy at the moment.” Blinking again, Taylor offered the other girl a tiny smile at the image, turning back to the street. Lily’s tentative voice drifting her way drew Taylor out of her thoughts. “Blake’s not really all that scary, despite the look. She’s a bit older than us, but Charlie’s kind of head over heels for her.” Taylor blinked at the comment  
  
“I-” Taylor paused, hesitant to admit that the girl’s aesthetic wasn’t really what surprised her about the object of Charlie’s affection but the words caught in the back of her throat. She stared at Lily silently, pinned in place by the girl’s curious expression. Charlie and Lily had clearly expected her to be aware of Charlie’s sexuality, and part of Taylor didn’t want to admit that she hadn't caught on. “It’s fine, just a bit of a shock, but Charlie really seems to care about her.”  
  
Taylor took in the casual way that Lily nodded, turning back to the street after a moment. Fiddling with her turtleneck, Taylor let out a sigh of relief as she decided that she had dodged that bullet. Privately, she considered Charlie and how this information changed her. After a moment, Taylor rolled her eyes at herself. It didn’t really change anything, did it? Charlie was still the friendly girl that had glommed onto the strange girl in the strange-  
  
Freezing, Taylor’s thoughts grated to a halt. She glanced at Lily, watching the girl as she stared up the street at a pair of cabbies that had gotten out of their cabs to yell at each other. Glancing over her shoulder, Taylor stared at the building behind her as if she could actually see into the cafe, to see where she’d left her coat and scarf hanging. She imagined the scarf, the jacket, and something click-  
  
Actually, it was less of a click of two pieces of information snapping together and more like dominos ponderously crashing into each other. The implication of the scarf shifted in her mind, grating and knocking something else into place. Taylor’s mind drifted over the last two weeks, replaying everything that had happened. The scarf, the subtle teasing from Charlie, the knowing jokes and comments that had confused Taylor, all of which she’d played along with, assuming they were some sort of inside joke that she wasn’t getting.  
  
Only now, Taylor _got_ them. They thought that she was… Taylor swallowed, glancing at Lily and opening her mouth. Lily wasn’t looking at her, and Taylor hesitated, watching the way that the older girl tightened the sweater around her a touch and took a deep breath, her cheeks and ears darkening. Taylor peered at Lily’s features in profile as the girl looked _anywhere_ but her, and she felt her mouth going dry.  
  
 _‘Lily… Lily…’_  
  
Taylor’s mind drifted over her interactions with the older girl. The subtle comments, the way the girl stared at her like a puzzle that she wanted to decipher. The way that she lingered at the edge of her perception, the conversation they’d had on Friday. The bus ride-  
  
“Blake’s kind of chill, though. She’s got a wicked sense of humor, and hopefully, she’ll distract Charlie from keeping you up at night.” Lily glanced at her with a warmth in her eyes that confused Taylor. Up to this week, the idea of _anyone_ , boy or girl, having a crush on her of all people would have confused her, and Lily, well Lily was-  
  
Lily couldn’t… with _her_? Taylor was bombarded with emotions — confusion, mixed with disbelief, though other feelings bubbled amongst the rest. Embarrassment of the misconception and how she’d been inadvertently playing into it, worry about what would happen when she admitted it, and beneath it all, some tiny measure of gratification that someone like Lily could find her that... _fascinating_.  
  
Cheeks turning a brilliant scarlet, Taylor cut that line of thought off in her head, running a hand through her hair. Her attention drifted along the street, wrestling with that idea and wryly noticing that this time it was Taylor that was looking anywhere but at Lily. Watching the cars glittering in the fading sunlight, Taylor idly adjusted her hair again, glancing at Lily out of the corner of her eye, flushing at the other girl’s eyes on her.  
  
Lily took a deep breath, opening her mouth and leaning closer as if she wanted to say something, and Taylor’s heart started to pound at the determination in those eyes. She bit her lip, desperately clawing at the back of her mind for anything to say that wouldn’t hurt Lily if the girl admitted her feelings, but Lily hesitated before any words came out of her mouth.  
  
Lily stared at her silently for several moments before letting out a tiny sigh, her back coming back to rest against the fence once more as she tugged the sweater a bit tighter around herself. Taylor felt a mixture of relief and disappointment that confused her and swallowed both down, turning to glance at Lily.  
  
“It’s getting a bit cold,” she commented, her voice coming out smooth and sure despite how confused and worried she was. Lily looked at her and nodded, so Taylor gestured for her to follow along and made her way back down into the coffee shop. Stamping off her boots, Taylor watched as Lily moved to tug off the sweater, and she waved a hand at her to indicate that she could hold onto it for now.  
  
The soft smile on Lily’s face brought more color to Taylor’s cheeks, but she didn’t delve too deeply into why she’d done that, or Lily’s reactions, instead turning toward their booth. Charlie glanced up at her, grinning at their approach. The older girl waggled her eyebrows, though her expression seemed to falter after a moment when Taylor’s blush intensified.  
  
Taylor slowed a step as Charlie stared at her seriously for a few moments, though the staredown broke when the girl next to the redhead said something, drawing her attention back. Taylor pushed her hair away from her ear, smiling at Lily to assuage her concern, and trailed the girl toward the table as another poet began to speak off to the side.  
  
“And what’s all this about?” Charlie spoke when Lily slid into the booth, gesturing at Taylor’s sweater. The older girl rolled her eyes as Taylor moved in to sit beside her, opposite Charlie.  
  
“I was cold, Taylor’s quite the gentleman.” The words were teasing, said in a way that implied that Charlie was anything but, and Charlie let out an affronted scoff as she rolled her eyes.  
  
“I’m sure that she was quite gallant, Lily,” It wasn’t anything new, the comment, but this time Taylor turned, watching the way the color in Lily’s cheeks and ears turned form chilled red to a more violent crimson. Finally confronted with the fact that Charlie had been teasing Lily about her crush this entire time, Taylor’s cheeks flushed as well. Taking pity on Lily, Taylor turned to Blake, opting to change the subject.  
  
“Hi, I’m Taylor. How’d you meet these two idiots?” Taylor reached out a hand, grinning when Blake returned her smile and took her hand, shaking it firmly. Blake glanced over at Charlie, studying the redhead’s blush before she turned back to Taylor, lips curling into a playful smile.  
  
“D&D. Charlie was brought into our game by a friend of hers, and she saved my Djinn’s life, and sort of stuck around afterward. It was _terribly_ romantic.” Blake’s voice was laced with playful teasing, and Taylor couldn’t hold back her own smile.  
  
“Charlie does seem to have a thing for damsels in distress.” She grinned as Lily leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.  
  
“Oh! Blake did you ever hear that story about-” Charlie sank back into her seat as the girls teased her playfully, and Taylor smiled, listening to Charlie’s adventures in costume with foam weapon in hand, as the poetry went on in the background.  
  
  


▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[DUN DUN DUN.
> 
> Taylor finally gets it.
> 
> Honestly, I'd kind of expected Taylor to be a bit more clueless for a bit longer, but it sort of didn't make sense for her to not catch on at this point with how the story was going, Lily isn't especially subtle, and neither is Charlie, I think once that first thing snapped into place, everything else would have followed quickly. We also get a bit more gaming from the girls, and some more exploration of Taylor's growing friendships. Other things go on in the background though Taylor seems a bit more focused on the problems right in front of her at the moment.
> 
> I don't have a lot to say about this chapter beyond my eager anticipation of your reactions, so I suppose that I should just toss it out for you guys to devour. As always, the next update will be for HHI, so we'll see the next update here sometime next week.
> 
> I did shamelessly borrow two poems for this fic, just cause I'm terrible at this kind of spoken word thing. Blake's poem is; 'Loving you is the kindest thing I almost did' by Blythe Baird, and the other one was 'Dear Straight People' by Denice Frohman. They're both good poets if you'd care to take a listen, I was just hoping I did the borrowed words some sort of justice. =] Anyway, thanks in advance for the feedback.]]


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Bleh. Christmas stuff keeps me a bit slow; you guys might have to deal with slightly longer wait times till January when things calm down. But here's the update. =]. Thanks to Noelemahc, and for the betaing.]]

_February 11th, 2011_   
_Queens, New York_

  
Taylor hesitated when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror while she was washing her hands, standing stock still and staring at herself thoughtfully. Holding her hands over the sink, she flicked them once to remove most of the moisture before reaching out and grabbing the paper towel to dry her hands.  
  
She stood there, her eyes locked on her reflection as she considered her updated ‘look’ with an almost morbid curiosity. She took in her short, almost pageboy-esque haircut, and the way it framed her sharp chin and pronounced cheekbones. She studied her glasses as they sat a bit too low on her nose and obscured her dark brown eyes. She took in the way that her lips were just a smidge too wide for her face and frowned.  
  
She wore the same slate grey turtleneck she’d worn last Thursday, same black jeans she’d had for years, neither of which did anything for her figure. She didn’t _look_ any different, there was nothing glaring, or stand-out about her that would have struck as the thing that Lily had latched onto, and yet, for all of that, there must have been _something_.  
  
Lily had continued to meet her in the mornings on the bus, and they’d ridden to school together every day. They’d eaten together at lunch; they’d hung out with Charlie, and to a lesser extent Blake, after school. And through it all, Taylor had practically _felt_ Lily’s attention lingering over her, much to her growing confusion.  
  
The idea that someone like _Lily_ , of all people, could be attracted to her was… confusing. Lily was… amazing. The older girl was charming, eager to hold a door open or offer her a drink whenever they were together, and there _was_ something intoxicating about feeling other girls staring at her with envy when Lily looked at her like she was the only girl in the room.  
  
Guilt flickered through Taylor, and her gaze dropped, the color in her cheeks fading as she considered if she was being fair to Lily. She… She still wasn’t even certain whether she was interested in the other girl. She’d done her research, she’d looked up the tests, and there wasn’t much to go on.  
  
She’d never fantasized about _anyone_ , really, which wasn’t exactly strange considering how high school had gone up to this point. She’d never really thought about kissing anyone, boy or girl, and she had no data to work off of here. She didn’t find the idea of touching Lily unappealing, even kissing the older girl, but by that same token, there wasn’t any fire, any… smoldering like the articles had said. Just… curiosity and fascination, with a hint of affection.  
  
Taylor wondered if that was enough if it’d be fair to get Lily’s hopes up without knowing for sure where she stood. She knew that her time was running out, and part of her was secretly glad about that. If Lily confronted her, made her choose, then at least this confusion and indecision hanging over her head would be over… whatever she ended up choosing.  
  
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Taylor checked her watch. The bell overhead rang, and she chuckled softly, right on time. Stepping out of the bathroom, she headed up the hallway, deliberately keeping her pace slow and casual. She’d wanted this to be a surprise to Charlie and Lily, and arriving at class with them would sort of ruin it.  
  
When she finally reached the familiar dark hallway that her English class took place in, Taylor went to the door that Barrs had indicated. Apparently, it lead through into the small dark room that Barrs’ referred to as her ‘practice stage.’ Lifting one hand, she knocked quickly like the teacher had told her to.  
  
The murmuring voices within faded, and after a moment, the door creaked open to reveal the weathered features of her English, and now, apparently, Improv teacher. Barrs’ eyes lit up and flashed her a grin, and Taylor returned it nervously. Barrs had been especially warm with her, and she suspected from the way the woman looked at her and went out of her way to include her, that she was probably aware of her past. Oddly, instead of embarrassing her, the woman’s exuberance was oddly comforting. More than that, it was fun working with a teacher that clearly cared like that.  
  
“Excellent!” The woman’s hushed voice raised when she turned back to the class, throwing the door open behind her. “Class! We’ve got a late addition to our little troupe, and I hope that you’ll all make her feel welcome. Allow me to introduce you all to Taylor Hebert.” The woman stepped to the side with a flourish, revealing her to the rest of the crowd.  
  
The class was arrayed around the dark room on the various bits of set dressing, and they all flashed her amused smiles, though Taylor’s eyes drifted over to where Charlie and Lily were sat on a large block that’d been painted to resemble a child’s letter block, despite being the size of a couch. Both girls were clearly shocked, Charlie’s mouth actually hanging open. Behind her, Barrs’ voice spoke smoothly.  
  
“Taylor’s actually a year younger than the rest of you, but I couldn’t let her get away without injecting a little drama into her life, and this was her only spot. I hope that you’ll all make sure that she feels welcome.” The woman’s hand settled on her shoulder, and Taylor glanced back at her wide grin. “Go on and take a seat, dear.” The older woman turned to the class, and Taylor scurried over toward Charlie and Lily. The other two girls slid apart a bit to make room for her, and she pulled herself up between them as Barrs resumed speaking.  
  
“Now then! Who here can remind us what we were talking about last week?” The woman’s excited voice prompted one of the boys on the other side of the room to call out ‘Body Language’, and the teacher rounded on him with an exaggerated chuckle and a point. “Exactly, Drew. Body Language! Today we’ll be focusing on conveying emotion or context solely through body language.” The woman grinned at them and moved to assume a pose that looked almost dour. “As you can see…”  
  
An elbow jabbing into her side distracted Taylor from the lesson, and she glanced over at Lily, grinning at the girl’s excited smirk.  
  
“The hell did you manage this, Taylor?” The whisper was quiet enough that Barrs didn’t seem to notice, and Taylor shrugged, responding just as quietly.  
  
“It was all her idea-” Taylor cut off, glancing up to see Barrs giving her a look from across the room before returning to her lecture. She kept her attention on Barrs as she continued out of the corner of her mouth. “She wanted me to take Drama, but it conflicted with that guitar class I wanted, and she suggested this after, figured I’d be tempted to do a class with my friends.”  
  
“Wicked.” Charlie’s responding whisper caused Taylor’s grin to grow a bit more as she tuned back into Barrs’ lecture.  
  
“-ll sorts of everyday uses, from keeping a placid smile on your face at your part-time job, to keeping from looking nervous as your girlfriend’s father stares at you across the dining room table.” The woman flashed the room a grin, earning herself chuckles, and Taylor blinked, feeling warm fingers tugging at the sleeve of her sweater.  
  
Glancing over, Taylor caught Lily looking at her, and she couldn’t quite resist the smile that bloomed on her face when the older girl flashed her a welcoming grin, her cheeks heating a touch as the other girl turned her attention back to the gesticulating woman.  
  
Taylor followed Lily’s example, moving to watch as Barrs demonstrated something, the words the woman was saying drifting in one ear and out the other as she found it difficult to focus on anything besides Lily’s fingers gently curled around her lower arm.  
  
...She was in trouble.  
  
  


▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂

  
  
Taylor glanced at the clock with a frown, checking the time again and peering over at the empty seat where Lily had been sitting. The girl’d been gone nearly ten minutes at this point, summoned from the room by the dour boy that she had seen speaking with her in the cafeteria earlier this week. Glancing back toward the door, she wondered if the other girl would miss the rest of the class.  
  
“Alright, Taylor, let’s see what you can do.” Her name being called pulled her out of her thoughts, her attention jerking back to the front of the class. Barrs was standing there, staring back with a wry look on her face. It took a few moments of desperate scrabbling for Taylor to remember what the woman had been discussing.  
  
“Right. An emotion that I wouldn’t typically use?” Taylor spoke, earning herself an amused smirk from Barrs along with a nod. Pushing off the crate, she stood a bit taller and thought about the assignment for a few moments before glancing at Barrs. “Only through posture and expression, right?” Another nod, and she hummed quietly in thought, inspecting the rest of the class.  
  
It wasn’t surprising that contempt was the first emotion that Taylor thought of, considering, well… everything. What was surprising to her was the lack of… grief that she felt remembering Emma’s face curled in that expression. It still… hurt, but it wasn’t the same. There was a distance there. She glanced at Charlie, earning herself a faint curious smile, and she blinked in surprise at the feeling that the lingering bitterness in her hate diminished just a touch more.  
  
Shaking her head, Taylor closed her eyes for a moment and let herself focus and remember. She found Emma’s mind swimming out of the darkness behind her eyes, and she didn’t focus on the other girl’s reactions and how they’d made her feel, instead imagining the lines of Emma’s face, the way that her lips had curled and frowned.  
  
Taylor twisted her face into that shape, emulating the tiny curl of her lips and the tenseness along her jaw. She slowly opened her eyes, focusing on the middle distance at the center of the circle, imagining someone before her. She didn’t give the person a face, or a story, just imagined someone there that had failed her, that had abandoned her and hurt her by what they were, and she let her eyes show that distaste, that disapproval.  
  
Taylor held the expression, listening to the faint sounds of the room around her dimming as everyone focused on her, staring. There was a lingering silence for a few moments until one of the boys on the other side of the room spoke.  
  
“Resentment?” The words were laced with confusion, and Taylor was tempted to pipe up to correct him, but someone else beat her to it. A girl on the opposite side of the room.  
  
“No, look at her eyes, Mark. That’s definitely more contempt.” The words were faint, laced with tinges of recognition and a tiny hint of sadness. Taylor released the hold she had on herself as Barrs clapped, following the voice curiously. She kept an ear on the class, listening as they began to discuss resentment and contempt and the various ways that one could demonstrate them, using her demonstration as an example.  
  
Fighting off her blush at the praise, Taylor found her attention drifting to the girl that’d spoken, taking in her generous build and the short dark brown hair that framed her face. She was surprised when the girl’s gaze came her way in response, those stark blue eyes locking on her as if they were trying to peer into her soul.  
  
Taylor fidgeted under the weight of that stare, watching the other girl’s eyes as they slowly softened. When the girl offered her a tiny little half-smile, she couldn’t resist the warm one that spread over her face. She reached up one hand, slowly running her hand through her hair, wondering why that expression had seemed so congratulatory.  
  
Thankfully, she wasn’t left to dwell on that for too long, Barrs’ voice once more, dragging her out of her contemplations.  
  
“Taylor.” The word was subtle, and Taylor glanced over, staring up at the teacher's green eyes. The woman stared down at her with a worried look, though her expression faded after a moment as she studied her. She did her best to keep the smile on her face as the woman loomed close.  
  
“We’ve only got twenty minutes left, and I was hoping that everyone would do a demonstration. Would you like to go and locate our wayward student so that she could?” There was hesitation in the woman’s tone as if she was resisting the urge to add something onto her statement. Taylor shifted under the woman’s observation for a few moments, and it took her longer than it should have to realize that Barrs was offering her a chance to ‘catch her breath,’ assuming that her efforts might have upset her.  
  
Taylor flushed quietly, oddly touched by the gesture, and she glanced at the door for a moment before nodding back at Barrs.  
  
“I- uh. Sure.” Barrs nodded, and Taylor pushed away from the crate, flashing Charlie a quick reassuring smile at her worried look. Charlie wasn’t able to say anything, though, as Barrs descended on her after apparently designating her as the newest victim. As Taylor headed to the door, she couldn’t quite contain the muted chuckle she let out when Charlie tried and failed to convince Barrs that ‘asleep’ was an emotion.  
  
Slipping out into the empty hallways, Taylor glanced left and right up the hall for a few moments and then turned, making her way up the hall. She frowned at the way that her footsteps echoed in the empty walls, and only belatedly opted to wonder how she’d actually locate Lily. Unfortunately, the other girl wasn’t simply standing in the halls talking.  
  
Luckily for Taylor, the sound of heated voices drifting down the hall caught her attention, and she turned to follow them, concerned at the tone of the raised masculine voice that she could hear.  
  
“-can’t really do that, can we Lily. You’ve been avoiding the rest of us and spending all your time away from the program.” The boy's words were harsh, judgemental, and Taylor’s brow furrowed, the expression deepening at Lily’s pointed response.  
  
“I’m allowed to do that, Josh. I told you all that I might be taking some time away from things in the wake of what’s been happening with Gertie; I want to spend as much time with her as I can… while I can.” The words were sad, and Taylor’s fingers curled into fists when the boy smoothly bypassed Lily’s comment, continuing.  
  
“That’s beside the point, Lily. You’ve been avoiding me for a week, and we need to talk about this.” The boy’s voice dropped after a moment as if realizing how loud he was being, and Taylor had to take several steps closer to hear what he was saying.  
  
“-told us that we should be keeping our distance from that girl, Lily. You know what they were saying about what happened to her, it isn’t-” The boy’s voice was low, chiding, and Taylor listened in confusion as Lily cut him off.  
  
“Josh, he didn’t even know the half of it, but he’s wrong. She’s not-” Lily paused, her voice hitching for a moment before she continued. “There’s no risk there. She doesn’t... “ Lily trailed off again, and Taylor bit her lip, her confusion worsening.  
  
“Lily.” The boy's voice was weary, laced with sympathy. “I can understand, you know. She seems nice, and she’s cute, but you’re taking a huge risk here, not just for yourself, but for everyone. There’s a reason they ordered us to stay away from her.” Taylor’s frown deepened, her brow furrowing as she stepped closer.  
  
“Josh, this-” Lily’s voice raised sharply, and she cut herself off, moderating her tone as she continued. “This has _nothing_ to do with how cute she is, it isn’t like that. But they didn’t _order_ us to stay away from her, just warned us. And it isn’t fair to be cruel like that. She’s my _friend_ , and I think she needs that friendship now, you have no idea what that fucking mo-” Lily cut herself off, clearly swallowing a rant and Taylor felt a sinking feeling growing in her chest as her mind tossed over the words in her head.  
  
“We shouldn’t be talking about this here, Josh. You know that. I have to get back to class.” The words were curt, abrupt, and Lily’s footsteps approached the door that Taylor suddenly realized she was leaning so close against. There was a call from the boy that Lily ignored, and she scrabbled backward, her cheeks turning a brilliant red as the door was thrown open, Lily emerging in a huff.  
  
The older girl froze in place at the threshold of the door, staring at her with wide eyes. Lily stood there for several moments, dread and confusion growing in equal measure across her face. Taylor shifted back a step, glancing between Lily and the boy that appeared in her wake for a few moments, before speaking quickly.  
  
“L-Lily. B-Barrs told me to come to get you; she wants you to do a thing. We should get back to class.” Taylor forced herself not to dwell on what she heard, not to stand there just staring at Lily. She forced her face into a small smile, and she turned, taking several steps away, only stopping when Lily’s footsteps rapidly approached and a small warm hand wrapped around her arm, bringing her up short.  
  
“Taylor?” The words were soft, concerned, and she stood there, not pulling her arm away from Lily, but not turning.  
  
“W-we should get back to class.” Taylor bowed her head, speaking in a subtle whisper, flinching when Lily gently tugged her back toward her. She lifted her head, glancing at Lily’s worried expression as the boy lingered in the background, a solemn expression on his face as his arms crossed.  
  
“Taylor.” Lily’s voice was laced with clear worry as she stared at her. “Taylor, what did you hear?” The words startled her, and she flinched a bit, taking a few steps back.  
  
“We should-” Taylor tried to change the subject, to put this off, but the other girl’s lips parting silenced her again.  
  
“Taylor-” The word was subtle, laced with a chiding tone, and Taylor stopped. One of her hands lifted, the feeling of her fingers gripping her opposite arm, offering her some measure of comfort as she stood rooted in place by Lily’s worried expression.  
  
“You knew then… before I told you?” The words came softly, asked in a tiny voice, her chest clenching as Lily’s expression fell. The boy behind them straightened up, and Taylor’s eyes flicked to him before returned to Lily. “D-Did Charlie know, is that why she...” She asked the question, watching as Lily straightened up, shaking her head.  
  
“No.” The words were resolute but tender. “Charlie sort of picked up on everything on her own, I think she suspected, but she sort of just… saw you as someone that could use more friends and dragged us both along.” Taylor stood silently in place, staring at Lily and frowning as she let her gaze drop to the floor.  
  
“...Why?” Taylor asked, watching as Lily took a step back. When the boy behind the other girl perked up a bit, distaste on his face, she continued, eyes flicking between the two. “Who told you? Why would they? What possible risk could I be, Lily?” She peered at Lily, watching the other girl’s face falling into miserable expression, her chest clenching when Lily didn’t move to speak.  
  
She struggled to come up with someone that could have done this. Emma’s father? No. The school? Why? They’d told her teachers, but why would they tell students… Maybe they were worried that she was a risk… or something. That explained the staring then, Taylor thought to herself. If Lily was constantly worried that she might… snap, she could have been keeping an eye out. She frowned sadly, oddly struck by the disappointment that she felt at that thought. Taylor’s eyes ghosted over lily, drifting between her and the boy looming behind her quietly.  
  
“We should get to class,” Taylor muttered, taking a step back when Lily tried to step toward her, doing her best to ignore the flush of guilt that she felt when Lily’s expression fell even further.  
  
“Taylor, wait-” The words were sad, laced with regret, but Taylor just shook her head, watching Lily nervously and gesturing behind her, ignoring the sharp eyes of the boy behind Lily.  
  
“I c-can’t. Not right now. We need to get back to class. We’ll talk later. Alone.” The boy’s expression shifted, becoming suspicious, but Taylor ignored it, glancing at Lily. The sad look in the other girl’s eyes drew forth a flicker of regret that Taylor had trouble quashing. Still, this time, when she took a step back, Lily followed.  
  
The walk back to class was utterly silent, and Taylor didn’t look at Lily, doing her best to keep a smile on her face when she went into class. Something about the concerned look that Charlie flashed her when she entered and sat on the girl’s other side told her that she probably wasn’t doing a great job at keeping her hurt to herself.  
  
Lily demonstrating guilt for the class did little to calm the raging tempest of emotions swirling around inside Taylor’s head.  
  
  


▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂

  
  
It’d be easy, Taylor told herself from her position by the window. She could turn around and go down those stairs, walk past the milling students like there weren’t lead weights attached to her feet. She could walk out those doors and down the steps, and she could approach the lonely little bench in the glass-walled booth that Lily stood by.  
  
It would be simple to just… accuse the girl, to shout at her and drag the truth of everything out of her, to find out who had spilled her secret, and why. It’d be easy to confirm just how stupid she’d been and to just let the burning wreckage of the last three weeks fall around her.  
  
Even now, Lily simply stood there, a forlorn expression on her face as she stared at the doors below Taylor’s feet, clearly waiting for her. Her heart clenched at the idea of just walking out there under those eyes and… Taylor shook her head, dispelling the thoughts as her heart began to race. Glancing down at her hands, she stared at the digits as she gripped the railing by the window so hard that her knuckles turned white.  
  
“Time,” she whispered to herself, taking a step back away from the window, turning to head up the stairs instead of down. She just needed more… time. Things would be better in the morning. She could call Lily, and they could do this over the phone, and then it’d hurt-  
  
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Taylor headed down the hall, having to remind herself twice to slow the movement of her feet when she increased her pace to the point that people began to stare. Somehow, the stares made everything worse, the heat and weight of those eyes exacerbating the pricking at the corners of her eyes, and she buried her face behind the patterned fabric of the scarf that she still wore for some stupid reason.  
  
Swallowing against the tightening of her throat, Taylor ducked her head and did her best to ignore the looks, the curiosity. She moved down the now familiar halls, past her locker, and smoothly out the door on the opposite side of the school.  
  
The brisk air and the bright sunlight did little to lift her spirits as she crossed the yard of the school, her mind locked on the way her back itched as if she could feel the weight of a hundred stares on her back. She could almost feel the eyes of the crowds walking out of the school around her, or faceless imagined people peering out of the windows of the building.  
  
Gritting her teeth and ignoring the sensation, Taylor’s quick sharp steps became jog, and then a run. She must have looked like a maniac as she charged down the slick streets, her heart thundering in her chest as her feet slapped against the pavement, carrying her long past the point where no-one at the school could possibly see her.  
  
Eventually, her stamina gave out, and Taylor staggered to a halt, standing in the midst of the unfamiliar street, her back bent, shoulders hunched up tight to her body as she shook. Arms wrapped tightly around herself; she struggled to catch her breath, closing her eyes tightly to keep the pricking sensations at bay.  
  
She wasn’t sure how long she stood like that, fighting to drag oxygen from the air and battling the urge to cry, the minutes blending together in a haze of deep shuddering breaths and scrubbing pointlessly at her face. She might have stood there for hours but for the gentle contact on her arm that startled her out of her desperate motions.  
  
Jerking away from the contact, she spun, staring in confusion and desperate fear at the hand. Taylor’s let out a shuddering breath laced with a mixture of disappointment and relief when the girl staring at her wasn’t Lily. One of the older girls from her class stood there, the one that had recognized her contempt so easily. She took in the girl’s blatant concern, and something in her flickered with embarrassment, and she shrank back into herself as the girl spoke.  
  
“...Taylor, right? Is everything alright?” The words were gentle, laced with some hint of the understanding that the girl had shown in her eyes in the classroom, and Taylor took a hesitant step back, jerkily shaking her head.  
  
“I-It’s fine. J-just an asthma attack.” Seeing that concern, Taylor felt a measure of guilt at the lie, white as it might have been, but she straightened her back when the girl pulled her hand back, disbelief written on her face. Taking a deep breath, she pasted a smile on her face and did her best to speak clearly despite the lingering shortness of breath. “M-Missed my bus, I was trying to catch it. I-I must have pushed myself too hard.” She stared at the girl, watching the suspicion on her face waning after a second.  
  
“Right. Well, uh, you alright?” the girl spoke curiously, and Taylor nodded, hesitating after a moment when she glanced around at the houses around, suddenly feeling a bit out of her depth.  
  
“Uh… sorta. Where are we?” The girl stared at her in disbelief, before glancing around.  
  
“This is Gareth Drive, I think? We’re like a street over from the school... “ Taylor blinked quietly and glanced around, trying to orient herself with the map of the city that she had in her head, privately relishing in having something to focus on. Letting out a sigh, the girl continued softly. “Where are you headed?”  
  
“Uh...” Taylor hesitated, glancing around briefly. “I live over on Rothman Drive. Just past Keele Street.” The girl blinked, and tilted her head back in thought before glancing off to the side.  
  
“You can follow this street up to Keele, and then cut over. I’m going to Keele if you wanna tag along.” The girl offered her a friendly enough look, and Taylor stared at her idly, before stuffing her hands into her pockets, moving to follow when the other girl started walking.  
  
“Er, yeah. Thanks, uh…” Taylor trailed off, blanking on the girl’s name from class. Thankfully the girl didn’t seem upset, letting out a chuckle as she offered out a hand while they walked.  
  
“Margo.” Taylor shook the hand, releasing it quickly and glancing up the street. “So… Taylor.” The inquisitive tone in the voice made her tense, and she glanced over when the girl trailed off, staring at her thoughtfully. Resuming her mental thread, the other girl continued simply. “What’d you think of the homework? Got any ideas for what you’re going to watch?”  
  
Taylor blinked at the question and the dodge. She studied Margo’s features silently, feeling oddly unsettled by the girl’s penetrating stare. After a few moments, the other girl’s eyebrow raised, and she sputtered out a response, quickly contemplating the few thoughts she’d had in class.  
  
“Uh. I mean, if you’re looking for classical depictions of emotion and body language, the first instinct was Fred Astaire.” Taylor hesitated at the girl’s incredulous look, and she raised her hands. “There’s a bunch of his stuff with Ginger Rogers up on the Internet now, and they’re great at conveying their feelings without words.” Seeing Margo’s thoughtful look, she waved a hand, continuing smoothly. “They do some decent stuff with-”  
  
Taylor dropped into a detailed explanation of what she wanted to do, listening curiously when the older girl countered with Marcel Marceau and Charlie Chaplin. She had gotten so lost in the debate about their respective choices that she and Margo had ended standing on a familiar street corner for nearly ten minutes as they argued.  
  
“-not saying you’re wrong, Taylor, I’m just saying that I think my way is going to be better for discussion.” Huffing, Taylor rolled her eyes and glanced at the girl before looking around.  
  
“I guess we’ll see how things go in class, Margo. But it’s starting to get cold standing here in the street.” She ignored the tiny victorious look in Margo’s eye, huffing as she glanced up the street toward where her house waited.  
  
“Yeah, alright. Well, see you in class next week.” The girl offered her a wave that Taylor returned, and then she moved, heading up the street. The tantalizing aroma of hot chocolate drew her attention, and she turned, heading toward the small little shop that she’d visited with her grandmother several times.  
  
Ten minutes later, Taylor was at the counter, staring at the bored face of the twenty-something boy as he blandly listed off the price for her drink. Fishing through her pockets, she pulled out her phone and keys before finding her wallet. Tugging out a bill, she offered it over, taking her change and stuffing the contents of her pockets away, hesitating when she lifted her phone.  
  
 **[Two missed calls, two voice mails, three unread messages.]** Wincing, Taylor turned the phone on, checking her history. Most of the messages were from Lily, asking if she was okay, with one from Charlie that sounded concerned as well. Three of the calls were from Lily, but there was one from her grandmother as well.  
  
Sighing, Taylor tapped on her voice mail, bringing her phone up to her ear.  
  
 _“Taylor dear, I know that you’re probably going to be busy after school, but if you don’t mind, could you take some time to grab a tin of brown sugar on your way home? I figured that we could make cookies-”_ Taylor listened absently to the rest of her grandmother’s message, smiling softly despite herself. When it came to an end, she deleted it, listening when Lily’s voice came drifting over next.  
  
 _“I-uh…”_ There was a hesitation, silence on the line, and Taylor listened to Lily’s voice as the older girl took a deep breath. _“I was kind of hoping that that’d never come up, Taylor, and I am sorry that I didn’t tell you. I just-”_ The girl paused, moments of silence ticking away again as Taylor listened. _“I didn’t… lie about anything, Taylor. I just, there are things that I can’t always talk about. Still, I’m sorry. Call me… please.”_  
  
The phone let out a ding, asking what Taylor wanted to do, and she tapped a button to save the message, ending the call right after. She stared at her phone, confused and worried as another message from Lily appeared at the top of the screen. Sighing, she pulled up the conversation history, typing out a response.  
  
 ** _[Lily, I’m fine. I just walked home with someone from class. I’m nearly there now. I just need time to think, okay? I’ll call you tomorrow, or something, and we can talk then.]_** Taylor stared at the message, blinking when Lily responded within a minute.  
  
 ** _[...Okay. Sorry, again. Just… be careful, okay?]_** Taylor scooped up her coffee, ignoring the confused look from the bored barista and made her way out of the shop with a frown on her lips. Standing on the sidewalk, she glanced around tiredly, wondering why everyone was constantly acting like she had to be on her-  
  
Taylor froze, finding a dark pair of eyes locked on her own. She stared back in confusion, watching as the eyes quickly shifted away from her, glancing down the street, staring at the girl they belonged to. The girl was nearly as tall as her and dark-skinned, though little of it was exposed. Her face was wrapped in a sensible coal-black scarf that was tucked into her dark leather jacket.  
  
Dark seemed to be the theme, from the toque that she wore to the dark gloves, pants, and boots on her form. Taylor stared at the girl, frowning at the vague familiarity she felt. When the girl’s eyes drifted back in her direction, widening when they noticed her own lingering stare, her cheeks burst into color, and she turned away.  
  
Quickly turning and heading up the street, Taylor coughed nervously into her own scarf, doing her best to ignore the way her cheeks burned at how she’d been caught staring. As she moved along, she glanced at her image in the reflective face of a bank, peering past herself to the girl across the street. She paused, noticing that the girl was following. Getting flashbacks to Sophia and the ‘boys’ and their games, she paused once more, moving to pull out her phone.  
  
She kept her eyes on the mirrored glass despite ‘glancing’ down at her phone, and she felt her embarrassment draining away when the girl came to a stop almost instantly after she did. Tucking her phone away, Taylor started moving again, biting the inside of her cheek when the girl almost instantly started moving again as well.  
  
Feeling oddly paranoid after the constant warnings, Taylor continued along as naturally as she could, making her way toward the nearby gap between one building and the next. Once she got close, she turned and slid into the alley, hopefully looking as if this was a common shortcut for her.  
  
Once she was sure she was out of sight, she dashed forward, quickly crossing the short distance between the entrance of the alley and the cross alley, then ducking around the corner and out of view. Taylor leaned back against the stone wall there, holding her breath and listening to see if anyone was following.  
  
When there was no telltale slap of feet running after her, she peeked around the edge, letting out an embarrassed chuckle when she found the alley empty in her wake. Sighing quietly, Taylor turned to walk down the alley toward the exit, coming up short, her heart resuming its frantic beat when a swirl of darkness emerged from a nearby wall, moving to block her path.  
  
“And here I thought that you’d managed to spontaneously develop some survival instincts, Hebert.” The words were rough, almost coarse, and Taylor staggered back as the shadows smoothly evaporated to reveal the figure that she’d been running from. She took a step back when one of the hands reached into the jacket and pulled out a squat mechanical object, snapping it open to reveal a modestly sized crossbow. “I mean you spent all week hiding behind that Asian bitch, and the redheaded _dyke_. I thought that you’d finally fucking managed to learn something about how to survive in the wilds.”  
  
Taylor flinched at the harsh word, taking a step back despite the tiny flicker of anger and indignation that she felt on Charlie’s behalf. She watched, terrified, as the woman smoothly wound back the bow, pulling out a small bolt from her coat and slotting it into the weapon.  
  
“And yet, here you are. All alone and exposed, and just aching for someone to snuff out that pointless life of yours. But let’s make a game of it.” The girl lifted the weapon and pointed, and her already frantic heartbeat skyrocketed. The girl pulled the trigger, and Taylor lurched to the side, but she was too slow, letting out a sharp hiss as something left a trail of burning fire along her left shoulder.  
  
Taylor’s hand came up, gripping her shoulder. When she felt something warm and sticky, she pulled her hand away, staring in muted horror at the blood that coated them, glancing up at the woman’s harsh voice as it dragged her from her confused horror.  
  
“Run.” The words were cold, harsh, and commanding. Taylor stared in confusion at the woman, taking a step back as she finished slotting another bolt into the weapon and lifted it once more. “I said… _Run_.”  
  
It wasn’t the harsh word that finally prompted her to move, nor the weapon swaying dangerously in her direction. It was the look laced with fury and pain that locked on her own. Taylor saw the eyes narrowing with danger, and she spun in place, her scarf fluttering behind her as she charged toward the intersection that she’d just emerged from.  
  
The twang of the bow behind her, shortly followed by the ‘thwip’ of an arrow slamming into the brickwork to her left, kept Taylor from spinning back down the alley that she’d come up originally. Heart thundering in her chest, she charged down the much longer path ahead that stretched out along the entire block, staring desperately at the distant cars zipping past the end of the alley.  
  
The faint sounds of rapid footsteps in her wake echoing off the buildings around her made Taylor move her own feet faster, desperately ignoring how the steps in her wake continued to gain on her.  
  
  


▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Things are finally kicking off. =]
> 
> We get some details about Lily's courting techniques and Taylor's confusion about being the object of her affections, as well as a hint about how she feels about all of that. And then Taylor's a bit crushed by what follows.
> 
> And then Taylor's tossed in clean over her head with a monster. Sorry about the cliff hanger there, but well, I think it suits the narrative, hrm? Good stopping point. I'm looking forward to all the guessing about what sort of powers this trigger event could lead too. C: Keeping that all in mind, I, as always, look forward to your reviews. Not much to say this chapter, really.]]


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[You asked for an update, you get an update. Once again, thanks to Noelemahc, Juff, Lark, and OxfordOctopus for their aid in getting this hammered into something at least possibly readable.]]

_February 11th, 2011  
Queens, New York_

  
  
Taylor was forced to choke back a scream of pain as she smashed into the slick, almost slimy wall of the alley. She’d acquired three more ‘near-misses’ in addition to the one on the shoulder over the course of the nearly twenty-minute long chase, and they all protested rather vigorously at the abuse that she’d just put them through.  
  
Gritting her teeth against the pain, Taylor gripped her shoulder, growling to herself at how it began to seep blood again and forced herself to keep moving. One glance back at the dark figure casually reloading her crossbow was enough to get her heart thundering once more. The surge of adrenaline she felt was strong enough to banish the cloying edges of exhaustion that had been creeping into her vision.  
  
Taylor ran down the alley, ignoring the wild urges to lunge into a doorway or duck behind a dumpster as she passed, because neither had so much as slowed the cape that was chasing her down when she’d previously tried them. It merely earned her more of the cuts that even now screamed at her to stop shifting them and coating them in sweat.  
  
Taylor hit a patch of water, her feet slipping out from under her and sending her tumbling around the corner of the alley. She didn’t even pause long enough to curse, rolling back onto her knees and scrabbling back up to her feet and charging down the alley, bitterly wondering what was taking the Protectorate so long.  
  
Twice now, she’d managed to dodge the fucking cape behind her long enough to make it clear out into traffic. She’d seen people staring at her; a few had even offered her help. At least they’d tried before the woman had used some sort of teleporting power to rip her out of the street and into a different deserted alley. Someone had to have called it in by now; she couldn’t help but imagine that the Protectorate was looking. How long did it take them to track down one lone cape blinking all over the fucking city?  
  
Finally lifting her head as she ran, Taylor noticed that this alley terminated in a courtyard. The wicked chuckle in her wake told her that the cape had noticed as well, and she let out a curse. She knew what would come. Next, the cape wouldn’t wait for her to reach the courtyard; there was no fun in actually cornering her. Near as she could tell, this was all about the chase, and the cape was doing everything she could to prolong it.  
  
Those claws would sink brutally into her back, and she’d be dragged through that icy darkness to another nameless fucking alley to start this shit over again. Taylor felt a surge of bitter defiance wash up in her, and she held herself ready as she ran. She heard the intake of breath that signified the woman in her wake was drawing on her power.  
  
There was almost no warning, barely the sound of rushing wind, but Taylor threw herself to the side, crashing into the nearby wall and watching the figure that’d been chasing her waver suddenly, its form collapsing into that black wisp that rocketed away toward the wall. Taylor stood there for a moment, panting as she gripped her arm, finally letting out the long string of violent cursing that had been aching to escape her.  
  
She didn’t linger long, forcing herself up and away from the wall and back onto her feet. She moved quickly, hobbling as fast as her flagging adrenaline allowed her toward the junction in the alley ahead. She rounded the corner, slowly staggering to a stop as a mixture of disbelief and defeat washed through her.  
  
She was so close to freedom. A brightly lit street coated in snow was less than thirty feet away. Unfortunately, between her and it, a fifteen-foot high chain-link fence blocked the way, not even having a gate or anything in its frame. Taylor stared bitterly at the fence, rating her odds of being able to climb the damn thing with her shoulder and sides in the condition they were in as ‘poor.’  
  
Taylor pulled out her phone, staring at the glitching screen for a moment before lifting her head and raising her voice, calling out despite how hoarse she was from having done so several times already.  
  
“Help! Is there anyone there? Help!” She shouted several times, only cutting off when she heard that familiar whistling sound behind her. Taylor turned, watching as the tiny mote of darkness whipped back around the corner and slammed into the ground less than a dozen feet from her.  
  
The wisp exploded outward in a wave of roiling darkness that caused all the lights in the dark alley to flicker ominously as the fog dissipated to reveal that dreaded obscured figure. Taylor took a step back as the cape straightened up, cracking her spine ominously. The figure smoothly dusted off one of her arms, her gaze flicking between Taylor and the fence before she spoke with that mocking tone.  
  
“Didn’t even try to climb? Getting tired of the game already?” The figure shook her head as she pulled out the crossbow and carefully reloaded it. The woman raised her weapon, her voice issuing forth blandly as she took aim. “Admittedly, even I was starting to tire with the exercise; I suppose that this is as good a place as any for it to-” Taylor spoke suddenly, cutting the cape off.  
  
“Wait!” Taylor watched the dark eyes as they widened, and when the weapon dropped a fraction of an inch, she pressed on desperately, “Why are you doing this? Wh-What’d I ever do to you?” Taylor watched as the cape’s eyes widened, and when she took a step back, Taylor glanced to the gap between her and the wall. If she could get the cape to back off even further, maybe-  
  
“Why?” The response was low and dark, laced with a trace of bitterness so profound that it shocked Taylor, drew her attention back. Swallowing sharply, she found herself moving back unconsciously at the fury that had suddenly erupted behind those dark eyes. “Why...Taylor? You want to know why?” One of those gloved hands came up, gripping the hat, the other taking the scarf, and both were pulled away.  
  
“Because you fucking ruined my life, Taylor.” The coldly spat words caused Taylor’s heart to turn to ice as that familiar mocha-skinned face that emerged from under the mask. Sophia. The eyes had been so fucking familiar, and only now did Taylor get it as she confronted with the familiar features of her tormentor. Her eyes ghosted over the other girl’s appearance, her brows furrowing as she noticed the thick, barely healed bruise that covered the entirety of the right side of Sophia’s face, terminating in a painful-looking busted lip.  
  
“Attractive, isn’t it? It was a parting gift from my stepfather, Taylor.” The words were low and dangerous, Sophia’s voice rough, and when Taylor realized that she’d been caught staring at the wounds, she unconsciously shifted back. “The final, rotten cherry on the shit fucking sundae that you turned my life into, Taylor.”  
  
Disbelief welled up in Taylor’s chest as she glanced at Sophia, opening her mouth to argue, not even able to get out a word before Sophia resumed her furious ranting.  
  
“He did this to me because of the fucking shit that your father said to him, Taylor. Because your fucking father couldn’t mind his own fucking business, I don’t have a home to go back to, and even if I did, there’s nothing left for me there.” Sophia inhaled sharply, lifting the weapon, her hands starting to shake as she continued to rant. “Madison was transferred out. Emma isn’t even allowed to talk to me anymore. Her bitch of a mother enrolled her at a catholic school to keep us apart.” Taylor stared at Sophia, listening as she continued to rant, something about the girl’s eyes bothering her. It took her a moment to figure out what it was.  
  
It was the rage behind the girl’s dark eyes, the cold simmer hatred that flickered in those dark orbs. Every time the girl had pushed her, smacked her, tripped her, every taunt, ‘prank', and the bitter, cruel joke had all been made with almost inhuman calm. She’d never seen Sophia this angry, and the girl was practically frothing at the mouth as she listed off this litany of deeds that she laid at Taylor’s feet. That was when Taylor realized, with mounting horror, that if she didn’t get out of here, she was going to die.  
  
“-and now they’re arguing so much that Emma’s terrified that they’re going to get a divorce and it’s all your fucking fault, Taylor. You had no right bringing this shit to your dad. If you’d just taken it lying down like the fucking insect that you are-” Taylor froze when she heard a sharp twang, the sound sharp enough that it even cut off Sophia mid-rant. Taylor’s eyes flicked between Sophia’s widening eyes and the weapon in her hand, watching as the bolt slid free in slow motion.  
  
It was too late. Even after everything she’d done — beating the girls, leaving home and fleeing across three whole states, desperately piecing her life back together — after all of that, she was here, trapped before Sophia Hess once again so that the fucking monster could take away the one thing that she’d never managed to steal from Taylor.  
  
Taylor watched the bolt slip free of the weapon, and she clenched her eyes shut, silently wishing that she was anywhere else, anywhere that Soph-  
  
  
  


_~~A thundering voice slammed into her, through her.~~ _

_~~The words resonated through her, vibrating her bones and rattling her brain, but they meant nothing to her. Vague concepts and impressions smashed through her like a physical force. But she understood.~~ _

_~~Her mind reached out, and she touched her brothers and sisters, felt their minds reaching back, touching hers in return. The voice came again, slamming into her, rattling through her and setting her teeth on edge.~~ _

_~~She moves with its commands, its words, reaching out and carving into the others, shearing off parts of them and watching as the voice sends them away. She continues to grasp at the others that remain, drawing on them, and funneling what they see, what they hear inwards and upwards, and still, the voice comes, thundering and crashing along her spine, the resonating thoughts smashing through her.~~ _

_~~Eventually, she is among the last, one of the very few that linger at the edge of the ones that the voice has kept shored against its side. The voice comes again, thundering into her, and she feels her body cracking, parts of her being shorn away before she too feels herself being cast off, set free to fall, careening almost lazily toward the...~~ _

  
  
_‘-hia fucking Hess wasn’t.’_ The thought finished, and Taylor felt something inside her _shift_ , her body flooded with sensations difficult to describe. It felt almost like being wrapped in what white nose looked like, or being rolled up in the sound of burbling water. Sensations of movement, roiling random fluttering motions. Her body felt… fuzzy, like she was coming apart at the seams.  
  
Taylor heard the sound of metal scraping along metal and skittering on stone. Feeling no pain, no burning, she opened her eyes, staring in confusion at Sophia. The other girl swayed in place, her eyes clenched shut as she held the weapon loosely in her hand, and Taylor tried to look behind her to see if the weapon had missed, freezing when she couldn’t move.  
  
She couldn’t turn her head or move to spin, and worse than that, she couldn’t breathe. Her body continued to buzz and swirl, and Taylor felt panic starting to swirl in her chest, darkness creeping in at the corners of her vision. Sophia seemed to shake herself out of whatever happened, eyes starting to move about under her eyelids as she recovered. Suddenly, Taylor rather desperately wanted to be anywhere that wasn’t right in front of-  
  
The thought hadn’t even finished, and suddenly Taylor felt motion, her entire body being ‘dragged’ upwards, and the swirling grew worse, wilder. Taylor smashed into the wall of the nearby building, but there was no pain from her wounds, nor discomfort from being pinned in place, merely the vague sensation of being squished into something too small to hold her.  
  
After a second, her perspective suddenly shifted and she was standing by a open window, peering down at the spot where Sophia stood, and the fuzzy sensation rapidly diminished, and she could breathe again. And breathe she did, inhaling sharply and reaching out her hands, grabbing the window frame before her and taking several deep shuddering breaths.  
  
She stood there, looking down at Sophia as the girl’s eyes opened, and she watched the confusion and shock register. The other girl spun in place, looking around for her, and Taylor froze, holding her breath as the dark eyes ghosted past the window she stood at without seeing her.  
  
“Taylor!” the voice called out coldly, and Sophia spun around. “Hebert! Where the fuck are you, Hebert! You know that there’s no fucking point in hiding, I’ll fucking find you.” The words were cold, bitter, and Taylor held still, watching as Sophia spun around several more times. The sound of approaching sirens and lights flashing distantly seemed to make up the dark-skinned girl’s mind for her, and Sophia’s form collapsed into that dark mote again, which rocketed back down the alley and out of sight.  
  
Taylor remained perfectly still, breathing shallowly and counting to ten, then thirty, knowing that it was probably a trap, that Sophia would be back, and if she moved, she’d be caught. Thirty turned to fifty, then a hundred, then five hundred and the adrenaline in Taylor’s system began to fade, her body quite rapidly flagging and exhaustion washing in to replace it. Every wound in her body screamed out at once for attention.  
  
Taylor fought off the urge to just collapse where she was standing, listening as the sirens grew louder. Turning away from the window, Taylor hesitated, realizing that she was in someone’s apartment, though judging by how dark it was, she doubted anyone was home. Her eyes trailed over the modest decorations, though when they met a pair of glowing eyes, she froze, confronted with the eyes of a very wary looking cat. Frowning, Taylor looked at the cat, wondering what’d freaked it out so much, before belatedly realizing that it was almost certainly however she had arrived here.  
  
Taylor glanced back down at the alley she’d come from, wondering how exactly she had gotten up here, and how she was expected to get out. She turned, looking back at the cat and assuring herself it didn’t want to mess with her, before taking a step toward the door. A sharp tone sounded, and a loud alarm rapidly followed it.  
  
When the lights suddenly snapped on, there wasn’t even a thought. Taylor’s heart surged back to full speed, and suddenly she was wrapped in that fuzzy, whirling sensation again, and everything dissolved into movement. She suddenly found herself standing on the damp ground of the alley below. Except… she was on the opposite side of the fence from where she’d started, eyes locking on the bright light in the window of the apartment, the distant sound of the alarm still ringing.  
  
_‘How…’_ Taylor stood there, silently watching the window in disbelief. After a few moments, Taylor’s attention shifted to the opposite side of the fence, studying the spot that she’d been standing when the bolt had be-  
  
Taylor’s thought cut off, and she spun, searching the damp ground around her. She found the bolt a foot away and walked over, crouching down to grab it. Holding the projectile up to her eye, she inspected it, frowning in disbelief at the pristine bolt as it glimmered without a single drop of blood. This had been heading for her.  
  
Taylor raised back to her feet, her eyes moving back toward where she’d faced off with Sophia. She barely had to focus before the sensation washed back up and over her again. Suddenly, she surged forward, moving _through_ the fence as if it wasn’t even there and then came to a stop where she’d been standing earlier.  
  
She turned, looking through the fence to find the alley beyond completely unaffected by her passage, the fence itself as it had always been. Taylor frowned before the sound of rapidly approaching feet set her heart racing. Without even hesitating, Taylor’s attention flicked around for a moment, searching for-  
  
Her gaze locked onto the roof of the apartment building. She’d just exited, and the sensation came back. A few moments later, Taylor was standing on the parapet of the building, staring down at the alley as a half dozen police officers charged around the corner, coming to a stop in the alley and searching for something, probably her.  
  
One of the officers turned to the others, shouting out words she couldn't make out, and they scattered to the wind, moving down the various alleys back the way that she and Sophia had originally come. Taylor stood there, watching in abject fascination as two more figures emerged from around the corner, approaching the remaining officer.  
  
Capes. The Protectorate, they _had_ evidently been on her trail after all. One was short and stern-looking with gleaming silver arms, and she busied herself talking with the officer. The other was thinner and a bit taller with a long black pony-tail and a tinted visor. Taylor watched in fascination as she hefted the massive crossbow in her hands and swung it from side to side searching for threats.  
  
Taylor watched the figure in purple for several seconds until the weapon suddenly lifted up and pointed in her direction. Taylor hesitated on the edge of the roof for a moment, staring down at the reflective visor for several seconds. When the others noticed the staring contest and began to follow the purple cape’s gaze, Taylor moved. Stepping back, Taylor smoothly dropped off of the parapet and turned to glance around, ignoring the calls from behind her. Her eyes sought out a familiar landmark, locking on a church that she’d seen from her house several times. She tried to focus on it only to fail to draw up her apparent power, not even getting a hint of the fuzzy sensation.  
  
Frowning and wondering if it had something to do with the distance, she tried focusing on a closer target. She let out a sigh of relief when the power came with ease, and she felt herself dragged upwards and across the sky toward the nearby building she’d picked. Taylor didn’t hesitate when she landed, barely taking a moment to take a deep breath before again launching across the sky to another building.  
  
Taylor repeated the process several times, landing, reorienting, and launching through the sky, surprised and impressed that she managed to cross a half dozen city blocks in less than fifteen minutes. At that pace, it didn’t take long before she found herself perched precariously on the roof of the church, shivering slightly with the cold wind.  
  
Leaning against one of the towers of the church, Taylor stared out over the city. The entrances of churches typically faced… east… west? Taylor frowned in thought, turning her attention outwards, taking in the cityscape. Realizing that she could see Manhattan in the distance, Taylor nodded. _West then._ It didn’t take long after that for her to spot a familiar neighborhood and let out another sigh.  
  
A simple thought saw her form arriving on a snow-capped apartment building; then, two more hops placed her on the roof of the townhouse across from her grandmother’s. Taylor inspected herself, sighing with relief that she’d opted to go with dark clothes this morning. None of the cuts in her clothing showed particularly noticeable bloodstains.  
  
Gazing up and down the street, Taylor made sure that no one was looking. With a thought, she stood on the snowy sidewalk in front of her home. Taylor stared up at the towering building for a few moments, taking a deep breath as she pulled out her keys, heading for the door.  
  
  


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Hissing softly, Taylor pressed the soft gauze into the jagged rent on her left shoulder, biting her lip and willing that faint fluttering sensation under her skin to go away. She held herself stone still for several minutes, waiting until the worst of the pain had faded before grasping the nearby roll of bandages.  
  
Once she’d wrapped her shoulder, Taylor let out a sigh of relief as she took the pressure off the wound, taking care to tape down the bandages before dropping the bandage roll back into the nearby first aid kit. Pushing to her feet, Taylor stepped over to the mirror and stared at her reflection.  
  
Barring the shorts that she was wearing, Taylor’s body was largely bare except for the numerous bandages that covered her left shoulder, nearly two-thirds of her torso, her right thigh, and her left ankle.  
  
“Sucks that your upgrade didn't come with a healing power,” Taylor spoke to herself in the mirror, unable to resist the urge to grin when her reflection raised one of its eyebrows. The girl shifted, turning to stare at herself in profile with a soft frown. Apparently, bandages didn’t do anything for-  
  
**‘Brrring’**  
  
The sharp tone of the doorbell startled Taylor out of her thoughts, and her power welled up through her before she could fight it back down. Like an eager puppy, her powers came springing into action, and that fuzzy sensation suddenly washed over her. Taylor stared in fascination at her reflection in the mirror as her powers activated.  
  
A grey-brown shimmer spread across her body, and her form exploded outwards as she lost the ability to breathe. Her form resolved itself into a veritable swarm consisting of dozens of furry black and grey moths. The insects took barely a second to orient before swirling around and upwards, arcing across the room, Taylor’s perspective being dragged in the wake of the swarm.  
  
The moths crashed into the ground on the opposite side of the room and rapidly swirled back into a dense mass that shimmered with that same greyish brown light and Taylor’s body reformed, instinctively drawing in a deep breath the moment that she could.  
  
Taylor stared at herself, shaking her head with a bitter sigh. Silently marveling at the idea that she had Sophia fucking Hess — her own personal boogeyman and apparent sociopathic parahuman — to thank for her having her own powers. A voice from below shouted up the stairs, and Taylor straightened up, glancing at the door.  
  
“Taylor!” The sound of feet coming up caused Taylor to panic, and suddenly she was across the room by her dresser. Quickly pulling it open, Taylor pulled out a pair of pants and a sweater. Tugging on the pants, and ignoring the bite of her wounds at the abuse, Taylor hopped across the room to her bed, throwing her blankets over the first aid kit and the scissors.  
  
Hearing the footsteps coming to her door, Taylor grabbed the sweater, pulling it over her head and shoving her arms into it. As the doorknob started to turn, Taylor glanced down at her ripped up shirt and pants from earlier. A quick kick sent both bundles of cloth under her bed, and Taylor turned, smiling at the door as it opened. Her grandmother blinked in surprise as she entered, glancing at her with a concerned look on her face.  
  
“Oh! Taylor, there are some police people downstairs that want to speak with you.” Taylor frowned sharply at her grandmother’s concerned look and pushed her short hair back from her face.  
  
“Police? Did they say why?” She moved toward her grandmother, watching as the woman shrugged her shoulders.  
  
“Just that it had something to do with an ongoing case.” Taylor nodded nervously as she trailed Gram down the stairs. They moved down through the living room and into the kitchen, and Taylor hesitated in the doorway, taking in the two police officers and two capes standing around her dining room table.  
  
The officers looked like any NYPD that she’d seen before, a man and a woman in dark blue uniforms, and they were speaking quietly with the two capes. One was taller, in a heavily armored black and grey costume with a full helmet that had a featureless mirrored visor over the entirety of his face. The other was shorter, perhaps even a Ward, dressed in a black and silver costume that evoked an almost medieval image in her mind, and he had a massive lance strapped across his back.  
  
When they reached the landing, all four turned to face her, and Taylor had to consciously resist the urge to teleport back up the stairs and out from under their curious eyes, desperately wrestling that buzzing sensation under her skin down as she glanced between the four faces.  
  
“Taylor Hebert?” The female officer stepped forward, and Taylor blinked at the question, nodding hesitantly. The woman glanced down at the pad in her hand for a moment before straightening up and continuing to speak. “Nice to meet you, Taylor. I’m Sergeant Elizabeth Braddock; I’m part of the Joint Parahuman task force with the NYPD.” The woman gestured behind smoothly.  
  
“This is officer Jennings.” She pointed at the other officer who nodded, and then her hand pointed toward the two capes. “That’s Sophist, the second in command of one of the Protectorate teams here in the city, and the cape behind him is Jouster, leader of my Wards team.” Both of the capes nodded, and Taylor hesitantly returned the gesture, glancing between the figures and Elizabeth curiously.  
  
“Uh, nice to meet you all… what is this about?” Taylor schooled her expression into confused interest as she spoke. Her attention flicked toward Jouster when he moved, his back sharply straightening, but the mirror-masked cape gestured with one of his hands, and the boy took a step back, remaining silent as the officer continued.  
  
“We’ve been on a bit of a manhunt this afternoon. We’ve had reports of a parahuman chasing someone halfway across the local borough, and we were hoping to get more information from you.” Taylor bit the inside of her cheek to keep from reacting, merely raising one of her eyebrows at the cape, doing her best to seem a bit lost. After a moment of this, the woman continued glancing back down at the pad in her hand.  
  
“We managed to trace the start of the chase to a coffee shop not too far from here. When we interviewed the barista there, he described a girl that looked a lot like you buying a hot chocolate. He seemed convinced that he saw a girl in dark clothes following you when he watched you leave the shop.  
  
Taylor frowned, wondering if she’d really misjudged the barista if the disinterested boy could have actually remembered her face or, for that matter, paid attention to her when she’d left the shop. For a moment, Taylor contemplated merely admitting to it all, and letting the capes know what happened.  
  
Embarrassment and no small amount of shame washed through her, and Taylor’s gaze smoothly drifted over to her grandmother’s worried features for a moment before smoothly straightening her back. She turned back to the officer with a smooth shake of her head.  
  
“I think he must have been mistaken. I got a call not long after I left, and I had to get moving so that I could meet up with a friend. I didn’t see any person in dark clothing.” Taylor watched the eyebrows of the officers raising, and she looked back when Jouster stepped forward, speaking softly to Sophist.  
  
“Sir! Flechette-” The mirror-masked man raised a hand, and Jouster instantly went silent. Taylor peered between the two capes, flushing as she got the distinct impression that behind that reflective mask, the man’s eyes were firmly locked on her. The sensation of being so baldly observed set her skin to buzzing, and Taylor had to fight back her power again, barely noticing when the man stepped forward, speaking smoothly.  
  
“Our mistake, sorry for interrupting your evening. Thank you for your time, Miss Hebert.” Taylor frowned up at the mirrored mask of the cape. Taylor looked at the reflection of her own face in that shiny mask for a moment until the man took a step away and made a gesture. The two officers offered their own polite apologies before turning to follow him toward the exit. Jouster’s armored mask lingered on her for several seconds as the others moved, clearly resisting the urge to say something.  
  
“Jouster!” The cry from the stairs snapped her and the cape out of their staring contest, and they both turned to find that the two officers had already vanished down the stairs, and Sophist was watching them from where he stood next to her grandmother. Jouster moved quickly, and the two capes followed her grandmother down the stairs.  
  
Taylor glanced at the staircase that would lead her to freedom, tempted to quickly scurry up and away to the safety of her bedroom, though the sound of footsteps heading back toward her killed the urge rather easily.  
  
“So.” Her grandmother’s voice drew Taylor’s attention, and that familiar buzzing cropped up along her arms and across the middle of her back as she felt those penetrating eyes settling on her. Taylor swallowed nervously as the woman took several steps closer, staring her down for a few moments before speaking. “Why did you lie to them, Taylor?” The question wasn’t angry, or upset, merely worried and laced with deft curiosity.  
  
“W-What’d you mean by lying, Gram?” Taylor swallowed against the lump at the back of her throat and squeaked when her grandmother stepped forward.  
  
“Taylor, I was a parent and a teacher for thirty years, I know how to spot-” Whatever the woman was going to say died on her lips when she reached out a hand faster than Taylor could react and the woman’s wrinkled hand gripped her damaged shoulder.  
  
Taylor gasped out in pain, her vision blurring, and suddenly that buzzing feeling roared up around her, and before she knew what was going on, Taylor was standing on the opposite side of the kitchen, watching her grandmother as the woman gripped empty air and stared at her in disbelief.  
  
“-a liar.” Taylor flinched a bit as her grandmother’s eyes narrowed on her, and she took a hesitant step back. “Taylor… what was that?” Taylor scrabbled desperately at her mind for a lie, any lie that could explain this, and after a few moments, she let out a long tiny little sigh and hung her head.  
  
“I uh… I uh got powers, I guess.” Taylor glanced up, watching her grandmother’s expression soften, and she nervously fidgeted with the sleeves of her sweater, taking a step back to rest her back against the far wall of the kitchen. Lowering her head, Taylor stared at her fingers as they tugged at the aged fabric of her sweater, and she took a deep breath and began to speak.  
  
“I-it was Sophia. The girl that bullied me… she-she was here like they said. She found me outside that shop, followed me... cornered me in an alley,” Initially, Taylor had fully intended to keep this brief, to the point. But once the words had started, they wouldn’t stop, and Taylor slowly and agonizingly related everything that happened, every wound and slip and fall, every dark thought that she’d gone through, talking until her voice went hoarse.  
  
When she ran out of words, Taylor remained braced on that wall, eyes locked on her hands. Silently, she waited for the woman to roar with fury, or curse like her dad. To burst into tears like her mom would have. Instead, her grandmother let out a faint gasp, and Taylor glanced up just in time to find herself dragged into a surprisingly strong hug.  
  
“Oh… Oh, Taylor.” Taylor stood stock still, her body frozen in confusion for several seconds. Once she’d recovered, her arms tentatively wrapped around her grandmother and dragged her in close, returning the hug. Taylor bowed her head, resting her cheek on the tiny woman’s head and deeply inhaled the peppermint scent that often lingered around her, just soaking in the warmth and care that seemed to waft off the woman.  
  
  


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Taylor hissed sharply as the antiseptic coated rag dragged over her shoulder gash, gritting her teeth against the urge to fly away from the discomfort. She kept her fists clenched, jaw clenched, and head bowed as fresh gauze was applied to the wound, and a much cleaner bandage was wrapped around it.  
  
“Alright, I think that’s the last of them.” Her grandmother’s voice washed over her shoulder, and Taylor slowly relaxed her hands, staring down at her knees. Her grandmother was taking this disturbingly well, especially considering that she’d just dressed over a half dozen of her wounds, with very little fanfare.  
  
Honestly, even Taylor herself was taking this a lot better than she’d expected to. She’d anticipated tears, rage, hurt. But at the moment she was just… tired, exhausted. Taking a deep breath, Taylor ran a hand through her short hair and looked up, surprised to see her grandmother leaning against the nearby dresser and watching her openly.  
  
Taylor’s cheeks suffused with a hint of red, and she peered at herself in the mirror, wondering if she had something on her face.  
  
“So. What’s the plan?” The words were curious, and Taylor blinked nervously, fidgeting with the shorts that she was wearing.  
  
“I… uh, don’t exactly have one yet?” She watched her grandmother’s eyebrows rise, and she defensively shrank back into her place on the bed. She could see the obvious question in her grandmother’s eyes and let out a sigh, responding before she had to ask it. “I- I just… I didn’t want them to know what happened… _yet._ They’d have immediately started pressuring me to join the Wards, and I just…” Taylor ran her hands through her hair, pushing to her feet.  
  
“I just haven’t even had a chance to breathe since… everything happened, and I need… I need to get my head on straight before I even think of doing something like that… I don’t even know if I want to be a superhero… despite the power thing.” Taylor hesitated, lifting her eyes to see her grandmother staring at her thoughtfully. The woman’s gaze lingered on her for nearly a moment before she let out a soft sigh.  
  
“I suppose that I can understand that, Taylor. And if you need time to… think about things, that’s fine. But I think that we’ll need to set some ground rules.” Taylor blinked, shifting in place. The older woman stared at her for a few moments before her expression softened. “How about we talk about it over dinner? Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll see about reheating everything.” Taylor nodded, watching her grandmother as she disappeared out into the hall.  
  
Taylor turned to her bed and moved to the dresser, pulling out a t-shirt and a pair of loose pajama pants that wouldn’t exacerbate her injuries. As she was dressing, Taylor heard a faint ding from under her bed.  
  
Surprise flickered through her, and she pulled her pants out, fishing through the pockets and pulling out her phone. She tapped the button on the side and let out a relieved sigh that the device had recovered from whatever Sophia had done to it. She stared tiredly at the message on the screen.  
  
**[Lily: I uh… I just wanted to say again that I’m _really_ sorry. I just hope to hear from you soon, and I hope that you’re having a good night.]** Taylor read the message again, letting out a long explosive sigh as she remembered the shitty start to her day. She peered at the phone for a few moments, struggling to think of something that she could say in response to that. The faint scent of food wafting up the stairs grew rather tempting, and Taylor set her phone down on her bedside table.  
  
She’d… She’d talk to Lily tomorrow, once she’d had a chance to sleep on things, to get things sorted in her head. Things would be easier tomorrow. Taking a deep breath, Taylor double-checked her outfit in the mirror, nodding to herself and turning to the door.  
  
Taylor paused and glanced back at herself in the mirror, a tiny smile ghosting over her face. That familiar sensation washed up through her body with barely a thought. Focusing on the kitchen, Taylor watched as her powers kicked in, her body dissolving into a cloud of moths that went rocketing out her doorway and toward the stairs.  
  
Sure as hell beat walking.  
  
  


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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[So, super powers are at play.
> 
> For those of you curious, Taylor is a Mover/Stranger combo, with a few other subtle things thrown in. She is a point to point teleporter that transforms into a disparate cloud of moths that can pass through fences, windows and narrow gaps.
> 
> In other news, Gram knows. She wasn't supposed to, originally, but I kept stumbling when i'd try to plot out the reveal, and this sort of works better thematically. Also, there's no way that Gram would have missed Taylor's lies.
> 
> Currently on my way to work, so I'll leave it here, looking forward to your replies. Well be doing two updates for HHI, so stay tuned for that sports fans. Further updates for IA will be in the new year.]]


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[This took a while, xD. Sorry about that. =] This chapter was actually supposed to be, like, another two scenes, but considering that we're already at 8k just with this, I split it, so there'll be one more chapter coming out sometime near Valentines which will have Lily and Taylor finally talking. I'll let you guys sink your teeth into the work itself, merely offering my thanks to Noelemahc and Juff for their hard work hammering this into something legible.]]

_February 14th, 2011_   
_Queens, New York_

Slowly pushing the mashed potatoes and meatloaf around the shallow Tupperware container, Taylor frowned at her lack of appetite. It wasn’t that the food wasn’t appealing to her on an intellectual level. She knew that she was hungry, and the food had been rather delicious last night when she’d helped Gram cook it. Still, at the moment she was having difficulty drawing up the motivation to do anything beyond pushing it all to the side and resting the warm skin of her face against the cool material of the table.

Even at the worst of the stress from Emma and Sophia, even at her darkest, she’d never had this much trouble sleeping. Her mind wouldn’t let her rest; her attention constantly focused on that sensation that she could feel even now. The low buzzing under her skin, the swirling fluttering of a million, billion tiny furry wings, as if they were straining to escape from her skin like it was a balloon.

She’d tried everything. She’d used her powers over and over until she was gasping for air, and exhaustion clung to her bones, but it didn’t stop the sensation. She’d tried meditating, distracting herself with books, or baths, even scented candles to help herself relax. None of it helped, her powers continued their constant-

The sensation shifted suddenly, becoming more of a distant buzzing, not quite ‘excited’ so much as anticipatory. Taylor lifted her head, glancing around, wondering what changed. Realization washed through her when her gaze met the familiar dark blue eyes across the cafeteria.

_‘Right, Lily.’_ The older girl’s eyes widened, and her eyebrows lifted when their eyes met, but she didn’t blush or glance away at being caught. They sat in silence, nearly on opposite sides of the cafeteria. Still, when Lily flashed her a hopeful smile and a tiny wave, Taylor couldn’t restrain her own tiny smile in response, carefully returning the wave.

Lily had been… oddly patient, considering everything. Despite the panic of Friday night, and everything that had come with it, she hadn't argued when Taylor had texted her Saturday and asked for more time to clear her head. She hadn’t been pushy when Taylor was largely silent the rest of the weekend to focus on exploring her gifts with Gram.

Lily hadn’t been waiting for her on the bus; she hadn’t accosted her at her locker. She’d been given all the space that she’d asked for, and Taylor respected that. At least, parts of her did. Other parts, the dark voices that once whispered in her ear about deserving the things that Emma had done to her, had also wondered if Lily was merely exulting in her freedom; If the other girl was merely taking advantage of the chance to get away from Taylor, to no longer be forced to pretend that they were friends.

But then the tiny hopeful look in Lily’s eyes pinned her in place. The way that the smile on the other girl’s face grew just a bit in response to her own dim smile made her wonder if it was all just made up, if Lily was right when she’d implied that it wasn’t what she’d thought. Frowning and tapping her fingers on the table, Taylor nervously pulled her eyes from Lily’s when the girl’s expression changed, worry creasing her brow, no doubt in response to the frown now on Taylor’s face.

“You know—” The sudden voice speaking over her shoulder slammed into her like a cannonball, and Taylor jerked up, hand moving to grip her chest. The fluttering became a roiling, boiling ocean of sound and desperate straining for freedom, and Taylor gripped the edge of the table with her other hand. Desperately, within her mind, Taylor savagely gripped her focus on her powers, stopping them from just ripping her away from the seat, from sending her careening across the room and outing herself to the school. She was so lost in the sensations that she nearly missed the rest of the comment. “If you just walked over there, I imagine that she’d be ecstatic to accept your company. She’s been rather down all weekend, you kn-” The girl paused, hesitating before speaking a bit more worriedly. “You alright there, Taylor?”

“F-fine,” Taylor stuttered out, turning up toward the familiar freckle-lined face of Charlie, staring at the redhead as her powers sullenly withdrew. Taylor forced herself to focus on something else, taking in the girl’s dress. As she stared at the black t-shirt that read ‘Destroy the Patriarchy, not the Planet,’ or the seven rings on Charlie’s fingers, each a different brilliant color, she was mystified that she’d managed to go so long without noticing that something was up with the older girl. Only when the buzzing finally dimmed did she respond fully. “J-just surprised. You kinda snuck up on me there while I was lost in thought.”

Charlie stared at her for a few moments, as Taylor felt the tension bleeding out of her form, but thankfully the older girl didn’t call her on it, merely setting down her tray of unappetizing looking cafeteria food. Taylor glanced at Charlie’s food, staring at the lumpy white and gray mess that was supposed to be Chicken Alfredo, and the limp looking salad on the tray next to it. She was drawn out of her observations when Charlie spoke again.

“You could, though, you know? I doubt that she’d even comment.” The words were more tentative, curious, and Taylor frowned quietly, turning back to her own food, picking at it with her fork as she considered Charlie's point.

“I know. It’s just…” Taylor hesitated, struggling to come up with a reason. She wasn't sure why she didn’t just say what happened; that Lily lied to her. Or just casually brushed off the offer with some vague comment. It felt wrong to lie to Charlie, and it felt equally wrong to out Lily’s secrets. “I just… I can’t.” Taylor frowned down at her food for a few moments before peeking over at Charlie out of the corner of her eye. “You know that _you_ could also go sit with her if you want?”

“Eh. I spend all day with her and the boys. You’re my friend too, you know, and we don’t really get to hang out terribly often.” Charlie smirked, pausing to poke at her own food for a few moments. Taylor watched with rapt attention. It was rare that the exuberant redhead was at a loss for words, but also fascinating to see her face as she struggled to beat her thoughts into something that she could say out loud.

“So, uh… What happened?” Charlie looked at her, and Taylor frowned, idly wondering what she could say to that. “I asked Lily,” the redhead continued smoothly, tapping her fork on a rock-hard crouton on her plate before peering up at Taylor again. “She just said that you guys had a disagreement? That she’d done something that hurt you, and that other than that, it was private.” Taylor frowned at hearing that. She considered the words for a few moments before letting out a long explosive breath.

Honestly, it was about as close as one could get to explaining what happened without dragging a whole slew of new complications into the light. And yet, it still felt… hollow as far as explanations went. Biting her lip, Taylor stared at her food in thought. She’d trusted Lily; she’d even started to-

“Did she confess her feelings?” The words were low, worried, and Taylor shifted back in her seat, turning to glance at Charlie. The older girl stared at her, eyes narrowing with worry, cheeks coloring in faint embarrassment. “Y-you did know about them, right? I thought… last week at the slam, I could have sworn-” Charlie began to stammer, blushing harder as she struggled over her embarrassment that she might have made a mistake, and Taylor cut her off gently with an amused smirk.

“Yeah, I’d figured it out.” The relief on Charlie’s face at those words was palpable, and Taylor pressed on slowly. “But no, that’s not what we talked about. Lily hadn’t quite worked up the nerve to do that, but I think she was getting close.” Taylor tapped her fingers on the table, focusing on the sensations in her fingers instead of the lingering fluttering under her skin.

It was Monday, Valentine’s Day. If Lily had managed to push through, to work up that nerve, Taylor wondered what would have happened. Would she have accepted the offer? Protested, perhaps she could have explained that this was all a huge misunderstanding. That she hadn’t meant what they’d thought when she’d worn that scarf, even if she wasn’t sure where she’d stood. But then, then she’d have never found out about-

“I just caught her in a lie. We didn’t even really argue. I’m just… I’m just trying to process right now, figure out what it all means.” Taylor’s lips moved, her own thought slipping out, carefully edited and sanitized to protect Lily’s secret, because even with the lies… she couldn’t hurt her friends. And despite it all, Lily was still her friend. A soft sigh from her right startled her, and Taylor’s attention drifted to Charlie as the older girl’s expression became oddly somber.

“Lily is…” Charlie paused, voice hesitant, gears turning behind her green eyes as she tried to find the right words once more. “Lily’s always kept things really close to her chest, Taylor. It’s not… It’s not personal, and it’s not about you, I don’t think. She’s… She’s gone through a lot, you know?” Taylor’s eyebrow lifted, and she watched, fascinated as Charlie shrank down a touch. “It’s not really my place to explain, you understand? But when I first met her, back in Junior High, she had that same haunted look in her eyes that you had when you first arrived.”

Taylor lowered her head, lips curling into a frown as she stared at the food before her. She hated the idea that she’d been so obviously… _broken_ when she’d arrived in New York. The idea that anyone could have seen through her was powerfully uncomfortable, imagining her dirty laundry being on _display_ like that.

“I think, maybe, that’s part of what drew her to you.” The words continued from her right, and Taylor turned her attention back onto Charlie as the girl spoke, staring in Lily’s direction. “You had that same haunted darkness, but you were pushing past it. It was kind of emboldening. Hard to resist? And let’s not forget that fascinating scarf that you love so much.” Taylor flushed, cheeks darkening as she peered at Charlie.

“I- I never-” Taylor paused, struggling with words as Charlie’s somber expression dimmed, amusement coming to her features. “I didn’t intend to… I wasn’t aware of what sort of message I was broadcasting when I put that on. It was something of my mom’s that I’d have never worn before, and I wanted to prove something to myself. Truthfully, I just thought it was a Doctor Who scarf.” Taylor’s cheeks burned, but Charlie waved her off.

“I’d guessed, you know. And you were right. That _was_ a Doctor Who scarf. It was from 1979, it’s also a pride scarf, though. It was quite the scandal when it was released, but that’s how those things go.” Charlie leaned forward, and Taylor’s shock that Charlie apparently knew must have shown because the girl grinned and continued smoothly. “C’mon, Taylor. You dress well, and you rock the page boy haircut, but you don’t get the jokes, and you miss the subtle hints. You’re either a very bold baby lesbian, or it was a mistake. I think Lily’s infatuation is the only reason that she hasn’t picked up on it as well.”

“...If you knew, why didn’t you say something? I felt like an idiot when I finally realized.” Taylor’s cheeks blushed bright red again, and she shifted back when Charlie bit out a laugh.

“I was trying! I kept giving you more and more blatant hints. I was trying to help you catch on in a way that wouldn’t embarrass you to the point that you did something to hurt Lily’s feelings.” Charlie’s words surprised her, and she frowned, mentally searching for the clues. The older girl pressed on, explaining, “The Triangles meeting I invited you to was for ‘The Rainbow Triangles,’ our schools’ GSA.” Taylor rubbed her forehead at the realization that instead of figuring things out, she’d taken Lily out on what might have been construed as a very casual date.

“And then there was the Poetry Slam. I hadn’t intended to demonstrate anything as hands-on as what happened, but uh, that was where you figured it out, then?” The girl stared at her, cheeks a tiny bit red, and Taylor nodded, snorting.

“Yeah. Watching you while Blake was on the stage... it was kind of hard to miss it at that point. You’re… you’re kind of head over heels for her. I’ve never seen you that vulnerable… or that angry.” Here, Taylor paused, chuckling when Charlie’s cheeks darkened even further, the older girl glancing away in embarrassment. Taking pity on her, Taylor continued smoothly commenting on her own embarrassing situation. “With that little tidbit, the rest sort of fell into place.”

“So, like… I get that. People make mistakes right, but that being said-” Charlie’s voice was tentative when it resumed a few moments later, and Taylor turned back to her. Charlie was nervously waving her hands around, those rings glinting in the light of the cafeteria as she spoke. “Like, even if you didn’t _intend_ to convey the signals you did, to make a statement like that, sometimes I still… sense something there?” Glancing from Charlie’s curious, concerned eyes, to where Lily sat, picking morosely at her food, Taylor felt her heart clenching in her chest and pulled her shoulders up tighter to her body.

“I’m not- I’ve never-” Taylor started and stopped, trying to find the right words, the right thoughts that fit this situation. Unconsciously, Taylor’s hands clenched of their own accord, and when she opened her mouth to speak, words failed her, tiny cold fingers of fear, striking them silent in her throat. Her mind wrestled with half-repressed memories and long distant echoes of sleepovers when questions like these had seemed innocent, and so much easier to answer.

“It’s okay not to know, you know?” Charlie’s voice was soft, laced with understanding, and the tension lingering in the middle of Taylor’s back began to uncoil just a touch. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Taylor forced her hands to unclench, and set them on the edge of the table, speaking slowly.

“I’ve just… I’ve never had anyone interested in me before, boy _or_ girl. The idea that someone is, especially someone like Lily?” Taylor glanced at Charlie, wondering if the girl was as confused by the idea as she was. Oddly, the older girl’s face was merely lined with bemusement and an odd sort of empathy.

“Someone like Lily?” Charlie’s voice was soft, curious as she parroted the words back at her, and Taylor felt her cheeks burning a brilliant crimson. Hastily, she pushed on, attempting to explain.

“Like- She’s-” Taylor frowned, opening and closing her mouth several times, trying to find the right words to convey what she was trying to say. “She’s so- And I’m just-” She was stammering like an idiot, she knew it. And yet the words refused to come. Lily was, she was amazing. Under the shyness and the hesitancy, there was this warmth. And she was affectionate and caring and generous. She-

She didn’t seem like the kind of person that’d be attracted to someone like Taylor.

“It’s… It’s just confusing, you know? Exciting, and flattering as well, and I-” She dropped her head a bit as she trailed off. She’d gotten so lost in her thoughts about her impending sexuality crisis that she’d forgotten everything that now yawned between her and Lily. All the difficult conversations and if she even wanted to-

“She’s a good person, you know? She doesn’t do anything out of malice, or greed, or for selfish reasons. I know that she keeps a lot to herself, but I’ve known her long enough, and I trust her enough to say that she does it for _good_ reasons, Taylor. And if you can’t have faith in her just now because of that, have faith in _me_.” Charlie’s voice cut through her thoughts, the older girl’s hand settling atop her own, and Taylor frowned down at the freckled hand. Could she really trust Charlie like that? She’d trusted people before, and she’d been burned for it.

Swallowing thickly, Taylor glanced up and across the room to where Lily sat, and she froze. The guidance counselor, Mister Saviero, stood behind Lily’s chair, leaning down to whisper into the dark-haired girl’s ear. Lily was paying attention to him, and Taylor watched the tension rippling through Lily’s form at whatever the man was saying. But something struck at her, an echo reverberating through her mind.

A thought, half-forgotten and so hauntingly familiar rang out in her mind. Cool, polite words issued in a clipped, businesslike tone whispering insidiously through the shadows lingering at the edge of her mind.

_‘Thank you for your time, **Miss Hebert**.’_

Taylor felt Charlie’s hand tightening on her own, the girl’s voice drifting in her direction, but the words passing through her without registering. Inside her head, that voice ricocheted off the inner walls of her mind, echoing back and forth and resounding over and over again as Taylor’s heart sank. Images welled up in her mind, the bald man behind his desk dissolving into the powerful form of the Cape in her kitchen clad in dark armor and obscured by a reflective mask.

Her guidance counselor was a cape. Cold, hard realization rushed through her like the winter chill cutting her to the bone as she endured the lonely walk to the bus this morning, and he’d been talking with Lily. _What did that mean, what could that mean? Was Lily, could Lily-_

“Taylor!” The harsh comment snapped her out of her rising panic with a jerk, and she glanced down to where she’d been holding Charlie’s hand in what was almost nearly a death grip. Hurriedly releasing the older girl, Taylor glanced up into Charlie’s wide, worried eyes and flushed. She swallowed thickly, muttering what she hoped was an apology before turning back to stare at where Lily had been.

The other girl was gone, her food left on the table unfinished. But the teacher remained standing behind the table, staring back at her solemnly. The man’s piercing blue eyes locked onto hers, and Taylor nervously wet her lips as the man slowly raised an eyebrow at her, his expression a confusing mixture of amusement and admiration.

Part of her was left confused and lost when the man merely inclined his head before he tucked his hands into his pockets and strode out of the cafeteria. Taylor was left with the distant, sinking feeling that suddenly the ball was in her court, and she wasn’t sure what she should do with it, nor what it might mean for her friendship with Lily.

▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂

She used to be afraid of heights. And she didn’t mean that in that way that most people did, in the way that they were, years and years ago, afraid of heights, but they had long since conquered it through sheer force of will and exposure. No, she meant it in the sense that last week, standing on a balcony made her queasy, and now...

Now, her legs hung from the lip of the roof that she was sitting on, six stories yawning out between her and the crowded street below, and the sight did nothing to her. Sure, her heart thundered in her chest, but that had more to do with the phone currently clutched in her fingers. But her mind wasn’t focusing on the phone, or the images on its screen that she refused to look at; as if that refusal to acknowledge would somehow save her from the images that’d already burned themselves into her eyes.

No, she was forcing herself to focus on the fact that for some reason, with the yawning chasm of distance and height that lay before her, her mind just didn’t _care_. Part of her guessed that it had to do with the fact that a fall was no danger to her anymore. She’d flitted across half the city at this damn point, and she knew on an instinctual level that her powers would kick in if she slid off this roof in a fit of madness.

Her powers were like that, operating on a hair-trigger. Casual brushes against her injuries set them off; being paranoid about people staring at her too intently set them off; somehow, seeing someone on television embarrass themselves had actually managed to set her off.

And it was always the same. She could choose to go somewhere, she merely had to picture a place, give the barest hint of preference and her powers were like an eager puppy, leaping up and buoying her to the destination in as direct a path as possible, even if this would mean going out the kitchen window and up the side of the house to reach the attic, instead of up three flights of stairs.

But they also reacted of their own accord. When she was scared or hurt, they’d swoop in like that over-eager and overly protective puppy, and they’d drag her back from whatever was terrifying or hurting her, whether it be her grandmother accidentally bumping into her, or a television showing someone finally stumbling into a powderkeg of a situation that was clearly entirely of their own making.

Lifting the phone still furiously clutched in her hand, Taylor wondered why her powers weren’t bothering her. Why that incessant, ceaseless buzzing that had been her constant companion for days had suddenly abandoned her. And the answer washed into her like the tide finally arriving.

Where could her powers possibly take her that would save her from accepting the truth that she saw? Realization wasn’t something that you could run from; it wasn’t like transforming and running would make the images on her phone make less sense like they’d return the veil of ignorance to her eyes.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the fingers on the phone pulled back, and she could see the image on the face of the girl in that purple and silver bodysuit. The one that had found her in that alley, with the impressive-looking crossbow.

She wondered why she’d missed it then, before realizing that she just hadn’t been looking. Considering her memories now, Taylor felt it had been obvious, from the way she walked, with her precise, careful steps, to the way that she had frozen, staring up at her. The look on her face hadn't been confusion, or awe, or shock, but... sheer unabated horror. The girl had felt _bad_ that Taylor had powers, and finally Taylor understood why.

Lily was a Ward. Lily was Flechette. Taylor slowly shifted her fingers along with the touch screen of the phone, moving one picture out and letting another slide in. They were staged, the angles kept careful, precise, every choice about the costume, the mask, even the hairstyle was clearly meant to conceal something about the Lily that she knew, and despite it all, it was so very obvious to her.

Gritting her teeth, Taylor shut her eyes and bowed her head, hoping to silence the swirling tempest in the back of her head. Without thinking on it too deeply, she lifted a hand, lightly tapping the corner of her phone against her head, not hard enough to leave a mark, merely using the subtle sensation to bring some semblance of peace to her scattered thoughts.

It was the sudden jarring silence from below that finally dragged her back to the present. Taylor’s eyes snapped open, and she glanced down curiously. The narrow street below her looked as it had when she’d arrived, nearly two dozen reporters milling around near their trucks, with teenagers nearly quadruple that number standing on the opposite side of the street, talking amongst themselves and clearly waiting for the festivities to begin.

Personally, even with the distinct lack of romantic experience that she had, Taylor suspected that spending Valentine’s Day in a newly opened dance club might be the definition of ‘tacky.’ That being said, the opening ceremony had managed to lure her here, though that probably had more to do with the special guests that the Mayor’s press corps had been blasting out over Facebook over the last few weeks.

While it wasn’t a bad idea, funding businesses designed to cater to teenagers, to keep them off the streets, out of trouble, Taylor wondered how effective it’d be, choosing to create places like this that were designed segregate teenagers, give them ‘teenager’ things to do, as opposed to supporting places like Jumpstart. Places that integrated young people into their culture without alienating them.

More than that though, Taylor was left wondering just how much it’d cost the city to ensure that the PRT was willing to allow the Wards to put their good names behind the Mayor’s little pet project, but whatever the reason, the dark vans pulling up the street toward them made it clear. The Wards and the Protectorate stood behind Mayor Matthews’ ‘Clean Streets Initiative.’

The vans rattled to a halt at the end of the street, and the attention shifted, everyone turning to stare at the vehicles as the cameras came up. Curiosity overtook her, and when the crowd below her washed away in a series of bright flashes, and everyone’s eyes were locked on the opening vans, Taylor let her power wash over her and focused on the street below.

It was a risk, that someone might see her using her power, but considering the dark grey material of the building and what she knew of her moths, it wasn’t as big of a risk as one might think, especially with how distracted the crowd was. And, sure enough, a moment later, Taylor’s body reformed behind one of the snow-white news vans, breath filling her lungs once more as she smoothly shifted away and out of the way. She made her way toward the rest of the teenagers, pulling up her scarf as she went and wrapping the material around the lower half of her face.

A few grumbled comments bubbled up around her as she wove her way through the crowd of teenagers, finding a place to stand in the middle, turning her attention on the vans. Two capes had already emerged from the van, both boys, and Taylor immediately recognized one. The tall cape in the knightly armor was playing up that image as he offered his hand to a girl in green and gold, helping her out of the van and onto the snowy street. Now though, Taylor had names for the capes, from her earlier research: Jouster and Songbird.

The other boy was dressed in blues and whites: Hoarfrost, his face adorned with round, blue goggles over his eyes, and he was busy scanning the crowd as another boy emerged behind him. Growler — the name bubbled up to her — was dressed in a black and gold suit that Taylor found herself desperately hoping included some sort of tinkertech heating. The boy made room, and suddenly Taylor was having difficulty breathing.

She was there, the last to emerge from the dark van. Seeing the short girl in silver and purple, Taylor was forced to admit that what she’d seen was the truth. Every tiny detail reinforced her conclusion, from the way the girl shifted ever so subtly away from all those eyes on her, and the tiny little hesitation before that familiar fake smile washed over the visible lower part of the girl’s face. Taylor stood there, her heart continuing to pound in her chest, blood rushing through her ears as the teenage superheroes turned and waved to the crowd as a whole before moving toward the podium outside the venue that the Mayor loomed on.

The teens moved up onto the stage, and Taylor blinked, finally noticing the adult cape with them. She’d initially expected Saviero- Sophist to be the one accompanying the teens on this little outing, but instead, there was another man with them. He was dressed in fine silken robes, the garments precisely tailored and seemingly offering no resistance to his simple, spry movements.

The man wore no mask, and while Taylor could picture his face in her mind, she couldn’t really describe it beyond the vaguest of details. Dark skin, ash white hair, and most confusingly of all, Taylor knew, on an almost visceral level, that while the man was objectively _gorgeous,_ his appearance was also _terrifying._

Looming behind the man was a massive gleaming creature that looked like a cross between some sort of canine and feline, the details also muddied. The creature seemed to be composed of living moonlight, and it moved without direction or comment from the man, following him up onto the stage before taking a seat and staring balefully over the crowd, almost daring them to step out of line.

“-was a bit of a surprise, but I’m sure that we’re all happy to have you here, Flechette.” The mayor’s low, sharp voice drew Taylor’s attention from the gleaming beast, and she turned her attention back to the podium, watching the woman as she spoke to Lily. Lily merely offered a polite bow of her head, the girl’s voice emerging over the speakers clearly despite being nearly fifteen feet away from the microphones.

“Thank you, Mayor Matthews. It’s unfortunate that my plans fell through, but-” Taylor flinched back a touch, biting her lip behind the improvised mask as her eyes flicked to Lily, staring at the girl as she gave a speech with disturbingly believable feigned enthusiasm. When the girl’s eyes turned toward them, Taylor shifted back and grasped her powers, suppressing the urge to flee as that mirrored visor wandered over the crowd.

She needn’t have bothered, though, as the gaze wandered past her without any sort of reaction, Lily’s attention clearly elsewhere. Letting out the tiniest of sighs of relief, Taylor turned back toward the podium and froze when she noticed that unlike Lily, someone else had, in fact, noticed her lingering presence. The girl in green and gold was staring directly at her, and when she noticed that Taylor was returning the look, she reached up, touching something at the edge of her neck.

When the rest of the Wards on the stage turned, almost as one, to lock their eyes on where she was standing, Taylor fought back the urge to stagger back, to flinch. She desperately gripped her powers, despite them screaming at her to flee, and she returned the looks, doing her best to act like she couldn’t feel her blood roaring in her ears.

Wait. That wasn’t in her ears. Taylor’s attention shifted, watching the teenagers around her turning, en mass, to stare off toward the south. Following them, Taylor broke eye contact with the Wards first, staring down the street in confusion.

The confusion faded quickly, smoothly replaced with disbelief. It couldn’t-

Despite her concerns about seeing things, blinking her eyes and rubbing them did nothing to remove the image of a massive three-wheeled reverse-trike roaring loudly as it drove along the façades of the buildings along the eastern side of the street, driving perpendicular to the ground as if gravity was a whim that it couldn’t be bothered to indulge.

The trike roared along the walls, and Taylor shielded her eyes, staring up at the figures clinging to it. She could -barely- make out three as they came roaring past, though her attention shifted when the figure on the very back shifted and tossed out one of their arms, sending nearly a dozen orbs sailing out into the air.

The crowd around her began to panic, pushing against each other, and Taylor had to wrestle with her powers when someone slammed into her side and set the healing wounds along her left side screaming in pain, but her eyes were on the orbs. They weren’t falling right; it was almost as if-

As one, all the orbs repeated the trick that the trike had done, completely giving up the illusion of obeying the laws of physics, and they shot outwards, circling over the crowd of rapidly panicking teenagers. When the first half a dozen blasts of crimson light washed out of the orbs and sent people tumbling ass over tea-kettle in pain, even the reporters joined in on the dismay.

Things rapidly spiraled out of control at this point, and the crowd of unsettled teenagers around Taylor smoothly transitioned into a mass of sharp elbows and panicked noises. Even if she’d had that much control of her powers, she probably wouldn’t have held them back as a large boy in a letter jacket smashed into her.

That familiar swirling sensation bubbled up through her and Taylor’s form dissolved, and a blur of motion dragged her through the crowd of teenagers as if they weren’t there, most too distracted by the display above to even react to the disparate cloud of insects that were boiling around and through their ranks.

The cloying sensations of her powers drew back, and she reformed behind a new van, a different one from the one that she’d appeared behind earlier. Biting her lip, Taylor turned, resting her back against the side of the van and listening to the sounds of panic, pain, and fear. Her powers continued to burble under her skin, uncertainty, and nervousness clawing at her mind, desperately trying to convince her to run, to get away from the insanity going on behind her.

It was the distant creaking twang that drew her out of her fear. The sound was almost vaguely familiar, sending a shiver down Taylor’s spine as she remembered fleeing down damp, cold alleys. Though, the sound was subtly different, more… heavy, for lack of a better word. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to move, sliding along the edge of the van. When she reached the hood, she crouched low and peered over the lip of the metal toward the panic.

She’d ended up a fair bit further away from the crowd then she’d been expecting, far enough away that the twirling black orbs weren’t paying her any attention, their screaming blasts focused on the trapped groups of teens closer to the stage. Taylor’s attention was rapidly drawn away from the civilians and toward the teenagers that were protecting them, watching in fascination at the others' powers at work.

The group of teenagers that Taylor had been hiding amongst was to the left of the stage now, huddled behind Songbird and the PRT van that she was holding aloft with her powers and using as a makeshift shield against the orbs. While she apparently dedicated her entire focus to this, the boy, Jouster, was blurring around her form, using that long lance he’d been carrying to intercept and destroy the hovering orbs in a cacophony of fire and multi-colored energy.

Hearing that familiar creaking twang again, Taylor’s attention spun over toward the right, where a cluster of older reporters and the Mayor were visible huddled up behind another news van that was a bit closer to the stage than hers. Standing next to the van, that large crossbow in her arms, Lily was taking aim at another of the zipping orbs.

The sound came once more, and Taylor watched one of the long silver darts left the weapon as it arced through the air and smashed clean through the floating orb, turning it into little more than a spray of scattered shrapnel. Lily ducked back out of view, and a sudden sharp burst of concern bubbled up through her chest when the older girl’s mask snapped in her direction.

It took her a moment to realize that Lily wasn’t staring _at_ her so much as _past_ her. It was also about that point that Taylor noticed the roar returning. Dropped back behind the hood of the van, Taylor peered behind her, staring in confusion at the solitary figure walking toward her.

One of the capes that she’d seen on the trike, the one with the hare mask, was walking toward her, dressed in what Taylor could only describe as an armored military outfit. Dark blue, almost black fabric, cut to show off the modest curves of the woman, accented with gleaming silver buttons, and a simple red sash that held a rapier in its sheath.

Beyond the cape, Taylor could see the trike itself, still up on the wall like gravity wasn’t its boss, once more approaching the group with the two other figures on it still. Taylor’s attention followed the vehicle as it roared along the wall, wincing when the second figure on it once more launched out another armful of the angry drones as it moved past the crowds.

Unfortunately, for the trike’s occupants anyway, the Wards had been waiting for this and… _something_ aborted their escape attempt. The bike had been roaring merrily toward freedom when an explosion of ice and snow from behind one of the PRT vans sent a blue and white blur arcing up to intercept them.

The blur resolved itself into a creature at least nine feet tall and covered in glacial spikes that reached out as the bike zipped past and almost playfully batted it off the wall, sending creature and machine both arcing toward the ground in an explosion of ice and screaming sparks along the pavement.

“-hat did you want, March?” Lily’s almost exhausted voice drew her attention once more, and she turned back towards where her friend was, staring at the back of the cape in the rabbit mask. The woman’s arm was held behind her back, clutching something green and pink, and Taylor pressed her lips into a thin line, pushing up and narrowing her gaze, trying to figure out what it was.

“Why, Flechette. Is that any way to greet someone that went so far out of their way to arrange this little… Rendez-Vous?” Taylor only realized that she was staring at a flower when it was brought up with a flourish, and she felt her cheeks darkening as she stared at the oddly intimate display before her. Taylor watched Lily’s cheeks darkening as well, or at least the parts of them she could see below the visor, and she felt a momentary clench in her chest.

“You think that I should be what, _thankful_ that you attacked people? Just to see me?” It was only at this point that Taylor realized that the color on Lily’s cheek was more the flush of rage than… whatever she’d been expecting. Ignoring the tiny pang of relief that washed through her, Taylor moved a bit closer, staring at March’s back as the girl straightened almost imperceptibly at the rebuffing.

“Oh, calm down.” The girl’s voice was laced with a mixture of dismissal and irritation that her efforts hadn’t been enjoyed. “They’re non-lethal, the drones that is. And it’s nothing too crazy, really. A little chaos, a little fun, and we get you out of the dog and pony show. We both know how much you hate that kind of thing.” The girl’s words were mocking at first, but the subtle flirting tone returned after a few moments, and she gestured widely with one of her arms as she continued. “Considering the date, well, I figured that I’d kill two birds with one stone. Get you out of it, and see if you’re willing to be my Valentine?” March flourished the flower once more, and Taylor leaned closer, desperate to hear what Lily would say in response to that.

What she hadn’t been expecting was for the reflective mask of Lily’s costume to momentarily flick in her direction. Taylor froze, staring back at that reflective mask, heart pounding in her chest as Lily’s lips moved. She wasn’t sure what was said, the sound lost on her as she stared back in Lily’s direction, but March’s response snapped her out of her stupor.

“-’ll just have to make sure that I leave an _impression._ ” The words were short, angry, and the masked girl’s hand went for her rapier. Lily reacted, trying to step back, but it was too slow, March was too close, and Taylor lunged forward, as if there weren't twenty feet between her and Lily, reaching out to try to intervene, and the power came.

She exploded outwards, and the sensations came once more as she spread out, swirling forward in a torrent of fluttering wings and fuzzy bodies. The mass of her swarm smashed into March, and bounced off of her, swirling ominously around her in a frothing mass of frantically flapping wings that moved through the space she occupied as if she wasn’t there, and then the sounds came back, the whisper-soft rasp of metal sliding along leather.

Her feet were still moving, the aborted dash carrying her forward. Lily was still attempting to bring her weapon around to bear, and the whisper of metal on leather behind her let her know that March was still moving as well. Taylor didn’t hesitate, throwing out her arms, crashing into Lily in a mixture between a grapple and a tackle, and she dragged her powers up.

Agony. Ache. Her power responded, but it was not happy, and she desperately wished that she could scream in this state. She felt like her arms were wrapped in lead, like she was trying to drag a heavy weight through deep, icy water, but she _was_ moving. A sword sang as it slashed through her and Lily, but it did nothing to slow her, to stop her, and they were off, moving upwards.

She was moving slow, slower even than she did at her most lazy. Faster than most people could run, still, but nothing compared to her speed when she exerted herself as badly as she was doing so now. It only took, five, maybe six seconds for her to reach the upper floors of the bank that she’d been sitting on, but it felt longer, her lungs screaming for air after a second or two, and she didn’t have time to wait for her powers to deposit her and Lily gently.

The moment that they cleared the lip of the roof, Taylor released her grasp on her power, and they were both spat out into the air like a pair of orange seeds. Tightening her grip around Lily, Taylor bowed her head and clenched her eyes shut as she felt gravity reasserting itself.

They both hit the ground a moment later, and Taylor was forced to bite back a savage cry of pain as they skidded to a halt, nearly a foot from where her back had first hit the roof.

“Ow,” Taylor moaned under her breath, letting her arms fall to her sides. She tensed, waiting for a harsh comment from Lily, some sort of question at least. But instead, the girl whimpered as if she was in pain, and Taylor turned, watching as Lily scrabbled off of her, making it nearly four feet away before vomiting loudly, emptying the contents of her stomach over the gravel of the roof.

Taylor forced herself to her feet, turning toward Lily as the older girl let out another pained sound before hunching down and conjuring up another wet splatter on the gravel. Taylor was tempted to run to her, but something tugged at the edges of her perception, and she frowned, glancing between Lily and the edge of the roof.

A simple thought and her powers reacted, smoothly, and much less angry. A momentary surge of movement and fluttering wings, and she was standing on the lip of the roof, staring down at the street below.

March stood several feet from where she’d left her, glaring back up at her through the eyeholes of that leporine mask. Taylor’s hand lifted, and she ran her fingers over the fabric of her scarf, assuring itself that it still covered her face. Her identity was momentarily secure, though it did leave her wondering if she looked like some form of Pride-flag Miss Militia with the scarf fluttering in the wind behind her.

March moved, taking several steps closer, and Taylor felt her powers buzzing under her skin, and she silently wondered what she’d actually do if the girl came after her. She glanced momentarily at Lily over her shoulder, wondering if it was a good idea to try and move someone else with her power, considering.

Thankfully, a figure, one of the tinkers that’d been on the trike, came running out of the crowd at March’s back and tugged on her arm. The girl shouted something at him, causing the tinker to flinch back for a moment before he held up his arm, gesturing at his watch and throwing his arm wildly off to the side.

Taylor’s attention drifted up the street, staring at the damaged trike where it lay upended and forgotten on the street. A figure was crouched behind it, using some sort of laser pistol to keep the glowing half-cat/half-dog she’d seen earlier at bay, the ice monster that had originally downed the trike nowhere to be seen.

But past that, several trucks were cruising down the street, a glowing violet figure matching them in the air above. Taylor glanced back down at March, staring in confusion at the abandoned pink rose that’d been left on the street, before finding the cape a short distance away, being dragged along by the tinker.

They’d barely cleared the last of the trucks when a swirl of dark purple and black erupted before them, and the battered trike appeared, gun-toting tinker still behind it. Taylor watched silently as the villains smoothly clambered on, and even though it was too far away to be sure, something in Taylor’s bones told her that March’s gaze was still locked on her as the vehicle roared to life and tore off down the street toward freedom.

The sound of doors creaking open one after another drew Taylor’s focus back toward the vans that just arrived, dozens of officers spilling out, accompanied by three more capes that looked far more dangerous than the teens standing on the street below. Swallowing nervously, Taylor watched the tall boy she’d had a staring contest with wave his arms emphatically before gesturing in her direction.

Taylor restrained the urge to sheepishly wave as dozens of eyes swung up in her direction. She stood there silently, desperately wrestling down her power's need to escape that much scrutiny, to flee from the way that the people were glaring at her.

“T-Taylor.” Lily’s voice was laced with pain and discomfort, and Taylor flinched quietly, the strain under her skin doubling, tripling as she curled her shoulders up, glancing over at Lily. The older girl had taken off her helmet, and she was staring at her with an expression laced with-

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, the convoluted mess of confusion and hope in Lily’s eyes causing her control to snap, and Taylor’s powers kicked in, her form exploding into a hail of moths and swirling upwards and away. She needed to be somewhere else. She needed to think. She needed to catch her breath.

She didn’t hesitate when she landed several rooftops away, didn’t take the time to breathe, merely forced herself to continue. On and on she went until she felt her lungs burning, her vision darkening at the corner of her eyes. She ran until she couldn’t possibly hear the sounds of the sirens, until she couldn’t feel the weight of the eyes following her, until the confusion at seeing that hope in Lily’s eyes wasn’t burning at her anymore.

She didn’t stop running for a long, long time.

▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[And so ends Chapter Seven, we get to see Taylor's powers at work, and we get to see some of the capes that occupy the city.
> 
> My favorite part of this chapter was Taylor's conversation with Charlie. How she constantly broke out into stutters, and tried to find the words to explain her confusion and disbelief, whilst still being clearly at least a tiny bit interested. =]
> 
> There'll be an Interlude coming out for HHI shortly, sometime next week, and then you lot will get the conclusion to this day, and a conversation with Lily that is long overdue. Worry not my dedicated fans, the warmth will return, I promise you this. =] Beyond that, I don't have much to say here. Hope you lot enjoyed the chapter, and I eagerly look forward to your reactions.]]


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[I had intended to the interlude for HHI before posting this, but Valentine's Day snuck up on me and I wanted to have this up for all of you when it went live here. Originally Chapter 7 and Chapter eight were supposed to be a single chapter, so this is both of them now. As always, I'd love to thank Noelemahc for his hard work as our beta, and this chapter he had a bit of help from Juff.]]

_February 14th, 2011_   
_Queens, New York_

  
  
It was an odd feeling, being thankful that the couch was too firm to allow her to doze off, but at least this way, she’d been awake when the other shoe finally dropped. She sincerely doubted that it’d be an impressive view if the Protectorate and the PRT walked in to find her passed out and drooling into the pages of the book in her hands.  
  
She still wasn’t sure why she was holding the book, actually. It was merely tiring her arms out since she hadn’t been able to really process a single line that she’d read. Groaning, Taylor let the book drop to rest on her face, closing her eyes and inhaling the scent of the aged pages of the trashy novel for several moments.  
  
Pushing the book off her face so that she could rub at her eye, Taylor listened as the book flopped off of her and then the couch, landing on the thick carpet with a muted thump. She grumbled at how unprofessional it was that her interrogators were taking so _long_ to show up and finally accuse her of whatever they’d imagined that she’d been doing earlier this afternoon.  
  
It’s been hours. It was nearly three at this point, and still nothing. When she’d triggered, they’d been at her house twenty minutes after she’d arrived, and somehow they still hadn’t-  
  
The doorbell rang once, long and dragged out, and Taylor jerked to her feet, charging toward the stairs, taking them two at a time.  
  
“Got it!” she called out, glancing over at Gram, who’d barely had a chance to turn away from the vegetables she’d been cutting. Taylor didn’t linger under what she was sure was a curious stare, merely spinning to descend the next flight of stairs to the small ground floor.  
  
Quickly crossing the distance between the bottom of the stairs and the door, Taylor hesitated at the lack of multiple shadows visible through the frosted glass. The only one visible was short, shorter than her, and it was clear that no one else was standing on the porch with them. Frowning quietly, Taylor padded the last few inches to the door and unlocked it, twisting the handle and opening the door.  
  
When the door creaked open, Taylor was shocked to find Lily standing on the other side of it, completely and utterly alone. She took a step back, pulling the door open, though she didn’t invite Lily in just yet. She merely stood there, gripping the side of the door with one hand, staring at Lily.  
  
The other girl looked fine, considering that the last time that Taylor had seen her, she was on her knees, being violently sick onto a roof. She _was_ a bit paler then she’d been in school, but she wasn’t shaking and didn’t look weak. Despite that, Taylor was forced to wrestle back the urge to immediately apologize. Instead, she stood there in silence, feeling her fingers tightening their grip on the door as she also wrestled back the urge to give in to her power's wish to be anywhere but here, pinned in place by Lily’s curious gaze.  
  
“I’m surprised that it’s just you by yourself,” Taylor spoke nervously, flushing when Lily let out a long sigh.  
  
“I insisted. They know that you didn’t have anything to do with March and Crash and Burn,” The other girl nervously ran a hand through her hair, peering up at her and apparently catching her look of confusion. “Crash and Burn were the tinkers. Crash is the one with the bike, er- trike. Burn is the drone one. They’re a team. Everyone knows that you weren’t there to cause trouble.” Taylor nodded slowly and blinked, finally realizing that they were still in the doorway. Blushing brightly, she quickly drew back and stepped to the side.  
  
“S-Sorry, I’m being rude. Come in.” Lily looked relieved at her words, as if she’d been convinced that Taylor might just slam the door in her face. Taylor watched the older girl step in, closing the door before turning to rest her back on it, then following Lily as she headed toward the coat rack and took off her black woolen jacket.  
  
Silence hung in the air, once more, as Lily hung up her jacket. When the older girl turned, and those piercing dark eyes locked onto her, Taylor let her eyes wander, to keep herself from being forced to return the gaze. Lily looked nice, a simple black button-down shirt, dark jeans, two belts. That seemed a bit superfluous, really, neither of them were actually in the belt loops of her dark pants, really, did the pants even have-  
  
“Right.” Shaking herself out of observation, Taylor gestured toward the stairs. “We can head upstairs, Gram’s making a roast if yo-” She’d been hoping that a change of scenery might make this easier, maybe talking in a place she felt safer in would keep her powers from constantly encouraging to flee for her life from this difficult situation. Lily, it seemed, had different ideas, smoothly cutting her off mid-sentence.  
  
“Why’d you save me?” The words were confused, laced with worry and something else, harder to place. Taylor finally lifted her gaze, looking toward those dark eyes. She hesitated. For a single moment, she considered lying, or acting like she didn’t know what Lily was talking about, but the urge passed quickly.  
  
“...How could I do anything else, Lily?” Straightening her shoulders up, Taylor pushed out her chin and spoke as resolutely as she could manage with the moths fluttering in her stomach, ignoring Lily’s confused reaction. “Despite… everything, you’re my _friend._ She was going to cut you, Lily. With a sword. Do you really think I was going to try and not help you with that?” Her hand came up, nervously gripping her arm as she stared at Lily, biting at her bottom lip.  
  
“I-I thought… that you didn’t…” Lily trailed off, her gaze finally flicking away. The resoluteness in Lily’s form seemed to bleed away, and the girl’s head slumped down. She seemed so much smaller suddenly, and Taylor's urge to flee instantly evaporated. She fought the urge to step forward, to hug Lily when she saw the girl’s body practically deflating before her eyes, listening as the other girl continued in a nervous babble. “After the weekend, and what… happened, I was worried that-”  
  
“Lily,” Taylor started gently, cutting Lily’s rambling off. She didn’t move, though, remaining in place and keeping a firm grip on her own arm, staring at Lily when the girl finally glanced up at her. “I-I am… a bit angry, but yeah, I still _do_ care about you. You’re my friend, Lily. I just… I needed time to process… well, everything.” Taylor shrugged, hoping that Lily got what she was referring to, even if she couldn’t really quantify it herself at the moment.  
  
“Oh! Lily!” The sound of her grandmother’s cheerful voice startled the both of them, and Taylor glanced over at the older woman, watching her dry her hands with a terrycloth towel. “Taylor didn’t mention inviting company over, but I figured she was waiting on _something_ , judging by how she was draped all over the furniture and sighing every fifteen minutes.” Taylor felt her cheeks burning and her shoulders curling up defensively as Lily’s looked in her direction, that familiar buzz washing up into her. “Were you going to stay for dinner? There’s plenty.” Taylor’s gaze drifted from her grandmother’s warm features back to Lily.  
  
Lily was staring hesitantly at her, and the girl’s expression shifted to something a bit disappointed, before turning back toward Gram. The older girl opened her mouth to speak, expression morphing into something apologetic. Taylor spoke up before Lily could, gently speaking over her.  
  
“Yeah.” Taylor watched Gram’s amused look drifting her way at the same time as Lily’s did. And Taylor’s cheeks colored a bit, and she hurriedly pressed on. “We’ve got some stuff to talk about.” When her grandmother’s eyebrow slowly raised, that smirk spreading just a touch, Taylor flushed, quickly pushing on. “Homework… stuff. Upstairs. But I’m sure that Lily would enjoy dinner, right?” Taylor turned back to Lily, waiting as the other girl stared at her with a mixture of confusion and uncertainty in her eyes for several moments. Eventually, though, the other girl finally nodded, turning toward Gram and quickly thanking her for the offer.  
  
“Alright, then. I just put the vegetables in, should be ready in a little over an hour. Should be plenty of time to… talk.” Gram shot Taylor a look that she couldn’t quite decipher before turning and ambling back up the stairs, vanishing into the kitchen above. As they lingered on the ground floor, Taylor’s cheeks started to burn a brighter red, and even without actually looking at Lily, she knew the girl was staring at her strangely.  
  
Pushing off her embarrassment, Taylor gestured for Lily to follow and quickly headed up the stairs. She didn’t pause in the kitchen, didn’t try to meet her grandmother’s strangely knowing look, merely pushing up and through the living room, not stopping until she’d reached her own landing.  
  
“I was pretty worried that I’d lost you…” Taylor froze quietly in place, standing at the top of the stairs in silence for several moments before sighing softly. She could feel the warmth of Lily’s breath across her back as the older girl loomed behind her, but the other girl didn’t touch her, merely pressed on, her voice soft. “I thought that after everything, after how I lied…” Lily’s words trailed off when Taylor laughed with a tiny hint of bitterness in her voice.  
  
“I-I’ve seen **betrayal** , Lily. I-” Taylor frowned. “I won’t say what you did didn’t _hurt_. But…” But… What? Taylor hesitated, wondering what she could _possibly_ qualify that with before shaking her head. She forced her feet to move, walking across the landing and opening her bedroom door. She gestured Lily in, waving the older girl toward the bed.  
  
Taylor walked toward the dresser that her record player rested on, hands lifting and fingers moving to trace over the molded plastic dials, and the faux wood exterior, desperately trying to wrestle her thoughts into simple, tiny blocks that she could share. She listened to Lily’s footsteps as they crossed the room, and the slow creak of her mattress as the other girl took a seat on the edge of it. Silence hung in the air between them for several moments until Lily finally tried to speak again.  
  
“I’m sorry, Taylor.” Lily’s voice was soft, words halting, and Taylor fought the urge to laugh. The tiny voice in the back of her head that sounded so much like Emma drifted up, whispering insidiously in her ear. Sorry was just a word; it was so easy to say. There was no way for Taylor to know if Lily was honestly sorry, or if she was just pretending. The Protectorate had seen her using her powers, what if this was another stupid fucking trap-  
  
Taylor’s thoughts ground to a halt as a memory bubbled up of Lily’s form deflating with regret before her eyes. That frown continued to linger around her face as she stared at the device before her. Lily seemed honest, she seemed legitimately upset, but there was no way to prove that it wasn’t just exceptional acting, how could she just _trust_ Lily again like that? Was it worth it, what if-  
  
“I am sorry, Taylor.” The bed creaked once more, and Taylor turned to stare at Lily’s wide dark eyes, swallowing at the clear regret visible in them. She took a step back when the older girl stepped closer and frowned when Lily backed off immediately. “I just- It’s been a really long weekend, I’ve been hoping you’d give me a chance to explain.” Taylor sighed, glancing down at the floor.  
  
“Can you explain it, _really_?” Taylor lifted her head, peering at Lily, and fighting off the surge of guilt at the girl’s pained look. “Can you really come up with something that would make this all better, Lily?” Taylor pushed her paranoia and hurt back as best she could, turning toward the dresser and taking several calming breaths. “Was it real, Lily? How can I even tell?”  
  
Lily took a step closer, and that familiar buzzing washed through Taylor, the urge to escape coming back with a vengeance. Taylor pushed the sensations away, tired of avoiding this. She held herself in place, listening when Lily finally spoke.  
  
“It-It’s real, you know it, Taylor. I didn’t… I was really upset when I thought that I lost you, I wish I could prove it…” Lily trailed off, voice laced with guilt and self-recrimination. Taylor stared down at her record player silently for several more moments, an image of Lily with those headphones of hers bubbling up in her mind.  
  
“What’ve you been listening to?” The question slipped from her lips before she even considered it fully, and Taylor lifted her head, glancing at the reflection of the other girl in the mirror. She watched Lily hesitate, reaching up toward her collar for the earbuds that weren't there.  
  
“W-What’d you mean?” The question was soft, and Taylor frowned, tapping her knuckles on the desk as she considered how to explain.  
  
“I- You said that you’ve been… feeling bad. Regretting what happened, I want to know what you’ve been listening to. You had your headphones on at lunch earlier. You listen to music all the time, and…” Taylor sighed quietly as she glanced down at the dresser before her. “It’d give me an idea what you’ve been thinking, knowing what songs you keep picking, what things you choose to play over and over-” Taylor hesitated when something knocked into her arm.  
  
She glanced over, staring in confusion at Lily’s phone as it was so casually offered over. Shock flickered through her at Lily’s open, resolute expression as she held out her phone. Taylor’s hand came up, taking the phone carefully, staring down at the lock screen.  
  
“Five, Four, Three, One,” Lily spoke softly, and Taylor quickly swiped her hand over the screen, unlocking the device. It took her a few moments to figure out the different operating system, but soon enough, she had Lily’s music app open, and she was flicking through her listening history.  
  
It was only at this point that she realized that she didn’t recognize half the artists displayed, and less than a tenth of the songs. She considered the music on display before picking the track that showed up more than any other on the list. Tapping the song, Taylor hooked the phone into her stereo, listening as the faint strains of music started.  
  
The folksy nature of the music that came washing out of the speakers surprised her. Setting the phone down, Taylor turned and glanced at Lily, tilting her head at the sudden difficulty the older girl had in meeting her eyes. She didn’t force the issue, instead of heading toward the bed and taking a seat on the edge.  
  
Lily followed her, and Taylor tucked her legs together as the other girl took a seat next to her. Lily’s cheeks colored, and she turned away, keeping her attention rooted on the carpet in front of them. Taylor’s focus shifted to the stereo speakers as the lyrics started, listening to the words.  
  
[ _Weep for yourself, my man, you'll never be what is in your heart  
Weep little lion man; you're not as brave as you were at the start  
Rate yourself and rake yourself, take all the courage you have left  
Wasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLJf9qJHR3E)  
  
“But it was not your fault, but mine…” The subtly whispered words to her left drew Taylor’s eye, and she turned toward Lily. The older girl was muttering in time with the music, her eyes locked on her hands. Following her gaze, Taylor felt her lips curling into a frown as considered the way that Lily’s knuckles whitened with how tightly she was clenching her own hands together.  
  
Without even thinking on it, Taylor’s hand slipped forward, settling over both of Lily’s. She felt the tension in the hands loosening almost instantly, and when Lily’s eyes met hers, Taylor did her best to smile, holding the older girl’s eyes as she spoke.  
  
“Alright. I believe you.” The relief that washed over Lily’s face was oddly endearing, and Taylor shook her head quietly, slowly pulling her hand back once Lily’s fingers slid apart. She didn’t let her eyes drift away, though, and she continued to hold Lily’s gaze for a few moments before continuing. “So. You said that you could explain. So...” She made a small wave with her free hand. “Explain.”  
  
Lily broke eye contact with her, a flicker of guilt spreading over the older girl’s visage, and Taylor shifted away. She moved past Lily, sprawling out on her bed, and tucking her arms under her head. She didn’t press, but she also didn’t change the subject, merely lying there with her eyes closed. She listened to the way that Lily’s nearby breathing seemed so loud in contrast to the soft, sad music playing, waiting to see if the other girl would actually explain.  
  
“Right.” Lily started after a moment, cutting off almost immediately to take a deep, steadying breath before pushing on. “I… I _did_ know who you were before we met. Well. I didn’t know who _you_ were until you introduced yourself, and I didn’t know your face, but I knew what happened to Taylor Hebert-” Lily paused, a lingering silence hanging in the air for a moment before she started again.  
  
“We were… warned about you. By the PRT.” Taylor felt her heart clenching at those words, and her forehead must have furrowed because Lily pressed on. “N-Not like that. It wasn’t… So, like. Your grandmother made a fuss at the school, a big fuss, about what had happened, and how she was getting you placed. That gave S- the Protectorate the opportunity to realize that you were coming.” Lily shifted closer, and Taylor heard the wood of her headboard creak as Lily settled against it.  
  
“Honestly, most of this is just stuff that I overheard from the older capes and the PRT officers we work with, but there were… concerns, I guess? That you might have figured out the identity of a Ward in Brockton Bay. And if you had, that put the rest of us at risk. Our covers are different here in New York, but they’re not… _that_ different. They just…” Taylor opened her eyes, peering up at Lily’s dark blue eyes. “They just suggested that we keep our distance if we didn’t want to risk our identities.”  
  
“Why didn’t you?” Taylor stared at Lily, watching the way the older girl glanced away bashfully. She was tempted to finally mention the crush, or explain the scarf, or just admit that she knew why Lily _might_ have ignored the warning, but nothing actually made it out of her lips, and she listened as Lily sucked in a breath before responding simply.  
  
“I didn’t seek you out, Charlie did that, and she was right, Taylor. You needed friends, and you’re… You’re important to me. Sure, it was a risk, but it was a risk I was willing to take.” Lily smiled down at her, and Taylor ducked her head, listening as the older girl continued. “Besides, it was just a _suggestion._ I am allowed to choose what risks I take.”  
  
“But that boy-” Taylor started, blinking when Lily waved a hand dismissively at her.  
  
“Josh is just… He’s overprotective already, and he’s… He’s been having a lot of trouble lately. His older brother went missing, and the Protectorate is worried that he might have gone off to join the Adepts. It’s something of a mess all around.” Lily frowned, quickly picking at her shirt. “He feels pretty bad about what happened. With Shadow Stalker. I do too-” Lily paused, and Taylor suspected it was her expression that was the reason.  
  
“...Shadow Stalker?” Taylor commented faintly, her voice low, confused, and she drew back as Lily’s eyes widened in shock and confusion.  
  
“I- I thought you knew… didn’t she..” Lily trailed off when Taylor shook her head, watching her warily as if she might explode. Truthfully, Taylor wasn’t sure why she didn’t explode. She let her mind reach out, scrabbled for anger, or rage at the idea that a Ward had been the one to attack her, but… Her mind came up with... nothing. There was nothing there to gain purchase on, as if her mind couldn’t be bothered with the idea of Sophia Hess anymore, as if she wasn’t-  
  
“You caught her… didn’t you,” Taylor spoke softly, as she traced out how she felt. Lily squirmed in place, staring at her warily, and Taylor glanced toward the mirror. “I should be… scared, or terrified, or angry, but there’s… nothing there. To my mind… she just doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t know _how,_ but I do _know_ that she’s not a threat…” Taylor continued to frown, staring at her reflection.  
  
“I shot her,” Lily admitted after a few moments, and Taylor blinked, unsure why that thought filled her with such warmth. She shifted her attention to the side, studying Lily’s face directly as the girl blushed a touch. “She came down that alley, screaming your name, and she saw us, and I saw her getting ready to run, and I just… I pinned her foot to the ground with a dart.” Taylor felt her own cheeks darkening at the subtle tones of pride and vindication undercutting those words.  
  
“I…” Taylor frowned. “I’m not surprised. That wasn’t a shock to me… I’m… I’m impressed.” Taylor glanced at Lily, offering the other girl a tentative smile. “Touched at your anger, and impressed but… I’m not surprised.” The older girl’s expression settled through several emotions, one after another before ending up in a mixture of thoughtful and contemplative.  
  
“Lily,” Taylor started after a moment, earning herself a startled look from the girl in question. “If you want this...” Taylor hesitated for a single moment, mind scrabbling through half a dozen words — _friendship, relationship_ , _whatever_ , even _thing_. Nothing seemed to fit, so she waved a hand, pressing on to the important part. “If you want this to work… you can’t keep secrets from me.” Lily shifted up, opening her mouth, but Taylor held up a hand, giving Lily a stern look that silenced her protest before it was offered. “As I was saying, you can’t keep secrets _about me_ from me… I… I need to trust you, Lily.” Taylor considered Lily’s expression as it fell for a moment before she let out a sigh. “I _want_ to trust you. But I need your help with that.”  
  
“I think you might have a thinker power. Something… related to sensing the area around you.” Lily’s words were soft, careful, and Taylor frowned, glancing off to the mirror thoughtfully. “...What?” Lily asked softly.  
  
“I can feel it when people are staring at me. When people look too intently at me, or their gazes linger for too long, my powers react.” Taylor glanced back at Lily, smirking when the girl’s blush returned full force, and she smoothly continued before Lily could offer another apology. “It’s like this buzzing under my skin, like my powers become agitated when they’re observed. Could it be related?” Taylor bit her lip as Lily nodded absently.  
  
They settled into a companionable near-silence as they thought, and Taylor’s exhaustion must have crept up on her because the next thing she felt was Lily’s hand tentatively shaking her shoulder, jarring her out of the light doze that had captured her. Snapping her eyes open, Taylor peered up at Lily’s worried face looming over her.  
  
“S-Sorry.” Taylor blushed, coughing and rubbing at one of her eyes. “Did you say something?” Lily stared back at her curiously before responding.  
  
“I was asking about your powers, you’ve yet to really explain what you can do…” Taylor blinked blearily, nodding softly. When she didn’t immediately explain though, Lily’s hand came out, the older girl’s cool skin resting against her forehead as she spoke. “Have you been having trouble sleeping?” Taylor flushed at the contact, bowing her head to gently remove it from Lily’s grasp.  
  
“I- uh…” She paused, squirming when Lily tugged her back up to stare at her. After a moment of nervous fidgeting, she spoke. “Er, yeah. Just… My powers are like… a sensation, under my skin, a buzzing. It gets stronger and stronger as I draw up the power, but sometimes it wells up on its own.” Taylor picked at her sleeves. “It’s… difficult forcing it to behave enough to let me drift off, too distracting.” Taylor watched Lily as the older girl tapped her knees, clearly deep in thought.  
  
“Mm, so there’s this… like sliding scale.” Lily held up her hands a bit apart, wiggling the fingers of one hand as she continued. “This end is ‘Focus,’” she started before doing the same with the other hand. “This end is ‘Instinct.’” Lily paused, glancing at her, and Taylor nodded, prompting her to continue wiggling the ‘Focus’ hand. “Right, so. If you’re at this end, you have perfect control of when your powers activate, but it takes a conscious effort to draw them up, meaning that you’re at a disadvantage in an ambush.”  
  
“And, I guess if you’re at this side,”—Taylor gestured toward the other hand as she cut in, speaking quickly as she caught on—“then your powers turn on whenever they sense danger?” Lily waved her hands in a wishy-washy motion as she chimed in.  
  
“Depends on the power, really. Some are just always on; some just activate when they’d be helpful, or at random, or, like you said, when there’s danger — no conscious control. You seem to be toward the middle but on the Instinct side. That means that your powers can be adjusted, but they do also react to, well, I doubt you’re being physically threatened in your bedroom…” Lily paused, glancing at the wall. “Unless there’s asbestos in here. So it’s probably your mental state that they’re reacting too. Strong negative emotions.”  
  
Taylor paused, frowning. She considered the last few nights, and her thoughts, the things she’d been wallowing in with a grimace. _She’d_ been the one driving her powers crazy. Tiredly rubbing at her face, Taylor flopped onto her back, holding both hands to her face as she moaned into her palms.  
  
“Hey. Hey.” Lily nudged her, and Taylor let the groan trail off as she huffed into her hands. “We all react poorly to our powers at first. You learn, you adapt.” Slowly pulling her hands away from her face, Taylor peered over at Lily disbelievingly. “Seriously!” the girl commented, leaning closer as if sharing a secret. “When I first got my powers, I lost like, seven toothbrushes. Just… dropped em after accidentally charging them, and they just sank into oblivion.”  
  
Taylor paused, considering that mental image for a few moments before snorting, grinning when Lily’s cheeks blushed, just a touch.  
  
“So,” the girl offered, and Taylor tilted her head to the side for a few moments before her mind caught up.  
  
“Right. Right. Powers. I uh... Well, you saw, experienced it. I flit around. Turn into a big cloud of moths and move around. I can go pretty quick over short distances, bit slower at range, but still faster than most people can run, and for longer. I can take stuff with me, but it’s not… easy. Or I guess… pleasant. Did uh, did you get that checked out, by the way?” Taylor peered up at Lily, who nodded absently, waving off her apology.  
  
“I was fine after I got settled. Extreme vertigo was what the Protectorate doctor figured. Something relating to the sensory input from your powers, I think. It was all discordant unpleasant sensations. Is that what it feels like to you?” Taylor blinked, frowning as she considered it.  
  
“I was about to say no… but sort of yes? I just… I can make sense of it.” Taylor stared thoughtfully at the roof over her head.  
  
“You know—” Lily’s voice was tentative, laced with subtle encouragement, and Taylor peered over at her as the girl leaned into her line of sight once more. “This is the sort of thing that the Wards program is all about.” She stared into Lily’s bright eyes, curiously considering the comment.  
  
She knew that her grandmother was probably going to be having some words with her once she heard about the moth girl that got involved with the big brawl with the Wards. Gram was pretty firm — Taylor wasn’t going to try the independent cape thing. It just wasn’t safe here, with the caliber of enemies around.  
  
She didn’t have to join the Wards, but if she wanted to use her powers, then the Wards were the only place that Gram felt safe with her doing it. She contemplated admitting that she was probably going to have to join, though the oddly endearing look of hope and nervousness on Lily’s face stilled her mouth. She considered the look for a few moments before quietly shaking her head.  
  
“Yeah? Well, you’ve already got my guard down, Lily. So how about we try the soft sell?” Lily’s eyebrows as they pinched together, and she smirked a bit at the adorable look of confusion on the other girl’s face. “Try and sell me on the Wards,” she reiterated more simply, grinning when Lily perked up.  
  
“Oh.” There was a moment, as Lily’s brain evidently rebooted, before she pressed on. “Oh! Right. Well, uh, I’m not sure what you know about the Wards. Most people assume that it’s superhero boot camp, but it’s not just that, you know?” Taylor watched as Lily leaned closer, her eyes lighting with an odd sort of fervor.  
  
“It’s… It’s a community, right? A place where you could interact with people that are like you. And they do help you understand your powers, and to be better heroes, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. For most capes, yourself included, it starts as an after school thing, you’ll work on power training and merchandising and stuff at first, maybe some one-on-one patrols once you get an identity hammered out, but then once you turn sixteen they move you up to one of the actual teams. I’m part of the Lancer-”  
  
Taylor let her arms cross over her middle, closing her eyes and listening to Lily’s voice as it washed over her. And for the first time in four days, the faint buzzing under her skin was finally, blissfully silent.  
  
  


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Hands moving mechanically, Taylor took the plate that Lily offered to her, quickly rinsing it under the tap before using the towel in her hands to dry it off. Her focus wasn’t on the dishes in her hand, though, at least not on anything but the most superficial of levels. Instead, Taylor found her eyes lingering along the lines of Lily’s face, observing the subtle pinkness that had refused to vanish from Lily’s face all through dinner.  
  
Admittedly, she’d blushed herself when she’d woken to find herself dozing on Lily’s leg while the girl listened to music. Worse than the fact that she’d passed out on her guest, though, was the fact that she’d only woken when Gram had entered the room to collect them for dinner and had apparently found them like that. Mind you, she could understand Gram’s amused reactions. Lily’s nervous babbling had been oddly endearing, even as Taylor was busy scrubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  
  
Dinner had been quiet enough. Taylor had been more of an observer through the meal, eating slowly and watching as Gram casually dragged Lily out of her shell, getting the older girl talking about everything from her family to her college plans, and how the school had changed since Gram’s retirement. It was only now as Taylor considered the plate in her hands that she realized that she’d been an observer to one of the most casual and friendly interrogations out there.  
  
“Taylor.” Lily’s voice startled her out of her musing and Taylor snapped to attention, noting that her hand was held out toward an empty sink. She flushed a bit, glancing up at Lily’s amused expression.  
  
“Sorry, got lost in my thoughts,” she commented, drying her hands with the towel before offering it over to the other girl. As Lily dried her hands, Taylor moved to lean against the counter, doing her best to ignore Lily’s tiny smirk.  
  
“Yeah? I guess it’s a bit hard to find your way around a place that you don’t frequently visit, hrm?” Taylor’s eyes snapped up to Lily’s face, and she huffed, giving the older girl a playful shove.  
  
“Oh, she’s got jokes.” She rolled her eyes before glancing around the kitchen curiously. “Thanks, though. You didn’t really have to…” Taylor trailed off, waving her hands in the vague direction of the cabinets. Lily seemed to get what she was implying, though, offering a shrug in response.  
  
“I don’t mind. Gertie always said that it’s better to be a conscientious guest, and it was a chance to hang out a bit more, even if you absconded into the convoluted maze that is your noggin.” Taylor stuck out her tongue, shoving her hands in her pockets. She perked up when Lily pulled out her phone, though the flicker of disappointment and regret on the other girl’s face wasn’t particularly encouraging. “Speaking of Gertie, I should probably...” Lily gestured over her shoulder with her phone, and Taylor nodded understandingly.  
  
Lily headed for the stairs, and Taylor trailed after her, descending the stairs a fair bit slower than the last time that she’d gone down. She lingered a short distance away as Lily slipped her feet into the large snow boots that she’d been wearing when she arrived. When the girl reached for her coat, Taylor stepped forward and tugged the coat up, holding it open to help Lily into it.  
  
Lily’s sharp inhalation as Taylor slid the jacket down her arm and helped her get the other one in was confusing. That voice from earlier returned, whispering casually in the back of her mind, insidiously insisting that she was reading too much into the situation, that her assumptions couldn’t possibly be right.  
  
But the way that Lily’s eyes drifted languorously over her face when the other girl turned to face made her wonder if she was wrong. It was exasperating to the point of frustration. They stood in tense silence for several moments, and Taylor could practically feel Lily’s gaze lingering around her face.  
  
“I.” Lily’s tongue darted out, wetting her lips as her hands vanished into her dark jacket. Taylor watched the way that Lily’s hands clenched the fabric of her jacket like a safety blanket, before forcing herself to meet Lily’s eyes. The mixture of hope, confusion, and guilt in Lily’s eyes was breathtaking, and Taylor leaned a bit closer, wondering what the girl was going to say. “I- I… I had fun.”  
  
Disappointment filtered through her, and Taylor allowed herself to drift back, nodding absently as she rested heavily on her heels. Self-recrimination washed over Lily’s face, and the older girl shrank a bit before her eyes, as she took a step back.  
  
Taylor barely heard the muttered goodnight, merely standing there as Lily opened the door and stepped out into the cold. When the door clicked in Lily’s wake, disappointment bloomed into irritation, then frustration, and she didn’t even think about what she was doing as she shoved her feet into her own boots and threw the door open, charging out into the cold.  
  
“Lily! Wait!” Slamming the door in her wake as she shouted, Taylor charged down the steps and up the path toward where Lily was lingering on the sidewalk outside the townhouse. The other girl turned to face her, and Taylor forced her feet to keep moving, gritting her teeth and refusing to let her doubts, or regrets to wash up and over her.  
  
She had to do this, she had to know, or she’d agonize over it for _months._ She had to know if this was real, or if it was just her being stupid, or naive, or hopeful. She crossed the distance between her and Lily in six steps, the shifting of her body feeling weird, heavy, compared to how quickly and easily she could make the trip if she _really_ wanted to.  
  
“Taylor, what are-” Taylor didn’t stop, didn’t let Lily speak, it’d just give her a chance to chicken out. She crossed the distance between them in an instant and reached out, one of her hands latching onto the woolen fabric of Lily’s jacket, and she gently tugged the other girl closer. Lily’s words died, but the girl didn’t resist, staring at her as Taylor closed the distance between them.  
  
In Taylor’s daydreams, this had been different. First of all, the person she’d been doing this to had been a _boy_ … well, they’d been a vaguely humanoid person with no face, really. More than that though, dream-Taylor had been pushing up onto her tip-toes, she’d been stretching, but Lily was short compared to her, so real-Taylor had to duck down.  
  
One of her hands came out, tracing along the line of Lily’s jaw as if she actually knew what she was doing. She gently turned the girl’s face away from her and leaned in close, allowing Lily’s perfume to wash up and around her for a moment before she feathered a soft, tentative kiss over the girl's warm cheek. She let the contact linger for one moment, maybe two, before she pulled back a bit and spoke softly.  
  
“Happy Valentine’s Day. Sorry that it was both more and _less_ exciting than you’d planned.” The words were subtle, laced with far more confidence than Taylor actually felt. The modest amount of confidence withered quite quickly when Lily didn’t react with a chuckle or a hug, or… anything, merely remaining stock still as her cheeks started to burn brighter and brighter.  
  
That tiny voice practically cackled in her head as Taylor’s thoughts swirled up, her powers accompanying them as she internally freaked out. She’d made a mistake, she’d been wrong. She’d made a fool of herself. Lily had worked this hard to save their friendship, and she’d just smashed it on the sidewalk outside her house. She’d never be able to-  
  
Lily’s hand tightening on the material of her sweater snapped Taylor out of her internal panic, and she jerked back to the situation at hand. She expected Lily to push her away, to say something gentle, but disappointing. She didn’t expect the girl to tug her closer. Taylor’s gaze turned toward Lily, and she froze when she saw Lily’s head tilting up toward her as she was drawn in.  
  
 _‘Is she…’_ Taylor thought to herself, cheeks continuing to burn a brilliant scarlet as the older girl leaned closer, head tilting to the side. Lily’s eyes were locked on her lips, and Taylor swallowed heavily, absently feeling her own eyes slowly lidding as Lily came closer. _‘She is… This is happening.’_  
  
Her heart pounded in her chest, and that familiar nervous buzzing vibrated up and down her spine, from the tips of her toes to where her hair was anchored to her scalp. It was nervous, confused, though. Not angry, or worried, or any of the other sensations that she’d felt. Taylor tried to push the sensation to focus on the situation at hand. She couldn’t think, her mind was filled with warm wool, and Lily was getting closer, and closer.  
  
The fear and nervousness in her stomach mixed with anticipation, excitement at what was about to happen. It was too late to back out now, though, and Taylor let her eyes drift shut finally as she felt Lily’s breath ghosting over her lips. Any second now-  
  
Taylor wasn’t sure if she actually felt the warmth of Lily’s lips or not, but something in her changed, and then suddenly, she was much colder. Jerking back, Taylor’s eyes snapped open, and she glanced around in confusion.  
  
 _‘The… porch…’_ She flushed bright red, eyes snapping down to where Lily was standing on the sidewalk, now forty feet away. The older girl was staring up at her in confusion, finger-tips dragging over her lips. Taylor had thought that she was blushing as brightly as was humanly possible, but, somehow the heat coming off her face redoubled.  
  
“Lily, I-” Taylor’s throat dried up, and she tried to force out something, anything, to go with that sentence. _‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, I can’t control my powers.’_ She angrily wrestled with her own thoughts, but none of that washed out. She tried to force herself to move, but fear and concern washed through her.  
  
Lily was her _friend_ , she _cared_ about her. She didn’t even know if she could do this. She didn’t even know what she was getting into. Lily was expecting things from her that she had no idea how to do. This wasn’t fair to either of them. Th-This was moving too fast. She needed to think. She needed to figure out where she stood. She needed to-  
  
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Taylor.” Lily’s voice startled Taylor from her own self-recriminations, and Taylor’s attention snapped back to the other girl. Lily had seemingly recovered from the shock, a mixture of amusement and affection visible behind her eyes, though Taylor couldn’t quite shake the impression that the smile on Lily’s face was a sad one.  
  
A momentary flicker of disappointment washed through Taylor, as she realized that she might have just sent the wrong signal. She frowned quietly, trying to figure out how she could explain without, well _explaining._ She didn’t want to give up on Lily, she just wasn’t sure if she could be what the other girl wanted… yet. She just needed a little more time, just a little bit more-  
  
“I should probably-” Lily started, and Taylor quickly cut her off.  
  
“Yeah, I get it. Uh…” Taylor swallowed nervously before shifting toward the railing in front of her. “I’ll see you on the bus in the morning?” Taylor laced her voice with the hope she felt, allowing her blush to shine out. Lily lingered on the street for a few more moments before her own expression perked up a bit, and she nodded firmly.  
  
“Yeah. Tomorrow morning.” Taylor nodded back, quietly watching as Lily turned and headed toward the nearby bus stop. She lingered on the porch, watching Lily as she headed to the bus stop, only retreating when she couldn’t stand the cold anymore.  
  
Closing the door in her wake, Taylor flopped back against it and closed her eyes, softly banging the back of her head against the metal door several times as she slowly sank down the door to crouch on the floor, her hands coming up to cover her face.  
  
“Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why am I such an _idiot_?” Taylor let out a long groan. The low, warm chuckle from across the floor caused Taylor to freeze.  
  
“That, my dear, I think, is genetic.” Taylor’s fingers parted so that she could peer between them at her grandmother, as the older woman sat on the stairs, a look laden with warm sympathy on her face. Taylor felt the fading blush on her face returning with a vengeance as she remained in place, pinned by that stare. “Your mother was always like this when it came to matters of the heart.”  
  
“I…” Taylor started, trying to find something to say, something to say in response to that knowing look. In the end, she merely remained crouched against the door, staring worriedly up at her grandmother in silence.  
  
“C’mon.” The older woman pushed to her feet with a groan, gesturing for Taylor to come closer. Tentatively allowing Gram to pull her to her feet, Taylor was shocked when an arm swept her into a strong hug. She returned the grip silently, inhaling the strong peppermint scent that always lingered around the woman. “We’ll brew up some tea, and we can talk about it, alright?”  
  
Taylor stared into the warm, kind eyes of her grandmother for a moment before letting out a tiny relieved chuckle, nodding to the offer. Gram’s arm remained around her back as they climbed the stairs was especially comforting to Taylor’s battered heart.  
  
  


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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[MUAHAHAHAHA. =] When I posted this for feedback, one of the first commenters responded with; 'how dare you', which I think, sort of encompasses how we're all feeling here. We were so close, and then Taylor had a bit of a panic. But at least Taylor's acknowledging that there's something there, hrm?
> 
> Honestly, I kind of super loved this chapter. I've been looking forward to this since Chapter 5, and I think I did it well, but I eagerly await your feedback guys. We do get a bit of subtle exposition about the Wards Program in New York, and other stuff that's going to be important later.
> 
> This chapter finishes out Arc 1 of In Absentia, which puts IA and HHI bot on their break between arcs. I'll be tossing up an Interlude for HHI shortly, and then we'll get one here, before both stories start their second arcs. =]]]


	9. Chapter 8 (and a half)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Huzzah, two updates in roughly a week, mind you they're short, and kind of off the wall, but things are getting a bit closer to back on track at least. =] Now that I'm done covering one of the other chef's six weeks of vacation, hopefully I'll have a bit more free time to dedicate to writing. But nonetheless, here we are, the first interlude to In Absentia. As always I'd love to thank our beleaguered beta Noelemahc for his continuing good work, and listening to me ramble, as well we've had some spot-checking done here as well by Juff, and Fwee and you can thank all three of them for making sure that this is readable.]]

_February 16th, 2011_   
_Docks South, Brockton Bay_

  
  
“...Taylor.” Danny hated the way that his voice choked up as he spoke, robbing the words of the intended gravitas he’d been trying to layer into them. Moreover, he loathed the way that the words caught against the back of his throat when he opened his mouth to speak, the way that they refused to emerge. When Taylor let out a low, hesitant sigh, Danny swallowed, hand clenching around the molded plastic of the phone as he fought back his temper.  
  
 _“Dad, really. It’s fine; just a few scratches. She chased me down a couple of alleys, came after me with a crossbow of all things? Can you imagine that?”_ The disbelief in Taylor’s voice caused Danny to grit his teeth. In truth, he could imagine that, he’d been imagining that for over a week, but he couldn’t _tell_ Taylor that. Opening his mouth, Danny wasn’t able to get a word in edgewise before Taylor’s voice hastily continued, _“But the Protectorate caught her. One of the local heroes shot her after I got away. She’s been locked up.”_  
  
“That’s… good, Taylor.” The distinct flavoring of approval and thankfulness in Taylor’s voice was particularly galling, considering just how monumentally that particular organization had dropped the fucking ball with Sophia Hess in the first place. That Taylor was apparently this impressed with them cleaning up their own mess was… unsettling. Lifting one of his hands, Danny pushed his glasses up with his fingers, scrubbing at his face. Grimacing when his palm dragged unpleasantly over the coarse stubble coating his chin, he continued. “That’s really good. I’m… glad that you’re not hurt.”  
  
A lingering silence washed down the line between them, and Danny frowned, moving away from the phone’s cradle, leaning against the side of the couch and glancing around the empty living room in silent contemplation. After listening to Taylor breathe for nearly thirty seconds, Danny let his voice continue, doing his best to contain the traces of hope that so desperately sought to creep into the words that he was uttering.  
  
“You know, Taylor. They transferred Emma out of Winslow, and Sophia’s out of the picture now, if you wanted…” Danny trailed off at the slow, reluctant noise that came from his daughter, well aware of the words that would come from the girl on the other end of the line.  
  
 _“Dad… I miss you, I do. But… I’ve...”_ Taylor trailed off, and Danny lowered himself into the chair, allowing his body to slump as he waited for Taylor’s response. _“I’ve… I’ve got friends here now, people that l- care about me. I’ve got-”_ Taylor ground to a halt, and Danny felt his lips curling into a frown at Taylor’s slip of the tongue.  
  
Opening his mouth, Danny felt a trickle of his disappointment and worry as he considered the idea of people flirting with his daughter. Still, the momentary image of Annette that flickered through his mind crushed the words that were eagerly waiting to spill forth. For a brief moment, the memory of her cool, distant eyes was crystal clear in his mind, and he forced himself to remain silent, merely listening as his daughter collected her thoughts and continued a bit more tentatively.  
  
 _“The school is also letting me retest into a bunch of things, so my grades will be better, and the teachers like me, and I… I’ve joined clubs. Well, one club. And I’ve got places that I visit with Charlie and… Lily. There’s…”_ The low stream of nervous babbling washed over him, and Danny slowly relaxed into his seat. Disappointment ebbed, replaced with melancholic amusement, and he coughed to cut off Taylor’s stream of consciousness, smoothly cutting in.  
  
“There’s a life for you there-” Danny trailed off, listening to Taylor nervous inhalation, and despite how painful it was to say, he forced himself to finish the thought. “That’s actually what I was hoping for when I sent you away. It wouldn’t be fair of me to begrudge you finding a place that was willing to see you for the delightful girl that you are when Brockton Bay proved to be too stupid and blind to do so. I’m just-” Danny stared down at the coffee table before him, doing everything he could to push more cheer into his voice, to keep Taylor from worrying. “I’m just glad that you’re happy, Taylor. You- You deserve it.”  
  
 _“I am, Dad… happy that is.”_ His daughter’s voice was soft, tentative on the other end of the line, and Danny felt his heart clench at the uncertainty there. _“I miss you, a lot, Dad. But… .”_ The faint hints of apology in Taylor’s voice was heartbreaking, prompting him to respond gruffly.  
  
“Hey, don’t worry about it, Taylor. It was a silly idea, really. You’ve got the semester to finish, and changing schools again would be ridiculous. It’s just that I miss you too, Taylor. But summer is in a few months; we’ll see each then at least. ” Danny blew out a breath, listening to the relieved sigh from the other end of the line.  
  
 _“Yeah! And maybe-”_ Her voice cut out, and Danny listened to the distant sound of a feminine voice from down the line, though Mary’s words were far too faint for him to pick up through the call. After a moment, Taylor returned, speaking apologetically. _“Hey, sorry, Dad. Dinner’s nearly ready, and I’ve gotta go, but I’ll call you later, alright?”_  
  
“Go on then, Taylor. I should start my own dinner soon.” His chest tightened a bit at the subtle lie, but something told him that Taylor probably wouldn’t be particularly enthused about the old friend that was visiting when she called. Exchanging goodbyes with Taylor, Danny turned off the portable phone. He stared at the off-white plastic for several moments, fighting off the urge to throw it into a nearby wall, merely pushing to his feet instead. Walking out of the living room, Danny dropped it in the cradle as he headed toward the kitchen.  
  
 _“-_ well, _Go hIfreann leat a shlíomadóir lofa!”_ The faintly accented voice cursing up a storm in Gaeilge brought Danny up short, and he froze in the arch of the kitchen. He had to push past the hazy memories of Connor Holbrook’s face shining a brilliant crimson as he said some of these same curses. Returning to the present, he found himself staring across the room at Connor’s daughter, Zoe Barnes, as she angrily tapped a no doubt scathing rebuke into her phone.  
  
Seeing the way that her shoulders were shaking just a bit, Danny didn’t open his mouth, well aware that if he gave her a target for her ire at this point, she might actually throw a handful of the aged ivory dominoes that lay on the table before her at his stupid face.  
  
Carefully slipping into the kitchen, Danny pulled out his chair, wincing a bit when Zoe’s head snapped up to stare at him, but he was saved from her wrath when the redhead’s phone dinged loudly, drawing her attention back down to it. Dropping into his seat, Danny studied Zoe as she glared at her phone.  
  
A momentary pang of distaste washed through him at the idea of involving text messages in arguments like this. When he’d done something so grievously stupid as to rouse Annette’s ire, she’d had the decency to verbally rip him to shreds to his face. Hiding behind a phone made things too easy, too… distant. It was far too easy to say something that you’d never say when the person was standing before you. Too easy to forget, you couldn't avoid seeing them indefinitely.  
  
“You look so much like my dad when you sit like that.” Zoe’s voice startled Danny out of his thoughts, and he jerked up, snapping his eyes to her. She smirked at him for a moment before nodding toward the table before him. His gaze drifted down to the table, taking in the stack of dominoes that he’d created before him, his fingers absently shuffling the tiles as he’d been lost in thought.  
  
Zoe was right, after all. It was a nervous gesture that he’d learned from Connor, during the long nights they’d spent playing with this particular set of tiles. His mind drifted back to those nights, sitting in the small kitchen at the Holbrook house, watching Zoe kicking her dad’s ass at these games as he constantly struggled to find some way to beat the girl.  
  
It’d confused him at the time, why Connor had been so content to let Zoe crush him night after night like that, but he sort of got it now. Zoe didn’t handle stress well, and having something like this, something with simple rules, a simple goal to accomplish, it let her focus on the game for a little while and bleed off the stress in the rest of her life. And that’s why he’d been letting her crush him underfoot so much over the last few weeks.  
  
“So, how’s Taylor?” Zoe’s voice was now smooth, comfortable as it jarred him out of his thoughts once more. Danny lifted his head, studying her carefully. Clearly fresh out of work, the woman was in a business-casual suit, wild red hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. She was staring right back at him, and despite the open, curious look on her face, he could see the lingering discomfort around her form, hints of the guilt she felt, and tension from the argument he’d witnessed.  
  
“Fine. Thanks to the Protectorate, apparently… somehow.” Danny muttered as he reached out to grasp his tray, dragging it close to make sure that all his dominoes remained where he’d left them. Zoe’s voice drew him out of his thoughts, and he lifted his head when she spoke.  
  
“Mn. I’m guessing you were right about where she’d go?” Danny frowned as he considered Zoe for a few moments, nodding absently as he let his fingers trace over the smooth ivory tiles in his tray.  
  
“Mhm. She attacked Taylor last Friday, apparently. She called to let me know about it. I guess they only told her recently that they’d caught Sophia.” Seeing the minute widening of Zoe’s eyes, Danny quickly waved a hand. “Taylor’s fine. Sophia didn’t manage to hurt her much before she was caught by a local hero.” Danny sighed, sinking back into the chair.  
  
Surprisingly, she didn’t immediately respond, and Danny leaned forward, staring at the woman as she nervously rearranged her tiles, fingers tapping the ivory pieces. It took Zoe several minutes of staring at her tiles in silence before she finally started to speak, though her gaze remained locked on the ivory under her fingers.  
  
“Alan’s been getting calls from New York, and he’s been…oddly angry. I guess the firm cut off his discretionary accounts, and he’s been poking at me to use my connections at city hall to get him a meeting with Roy, and he’s been getting more and more… upset when I’ve refused.” Danny frowned quietly down at his own tiles, contemplating the implications.  
  
“I suppose that explains the fact that my shadows have finally moved on.” Danny glanced at Zoe, chuckling when her gaze lifted to him curiously.  
  
“The two people that had been keeping a watch on the house. I assumed that one was from the PRT, in case Hess made a move against me, and the other was working for Alan, I guess.” When Zoe raised an eyebrow, Danny waved a hand. “Private investigator of some fashion? Took pictures occasionally when I went to work, but he kept a respectful distance away.”  
  
“He’s been having you followed? Danny, why didn’t-” Danny winced when a clear look of anger bloomed on Zoe’s face, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck as he cut her off as gently as he could.  
  
“And get you into another pointless argument with Alan? I doubt he’d have just stopped if you’d asked, and you’ve already done _plenty_ , Zoe.” Danny grumbled, his eyes flicking over the tiles before him, reversing the order of the pieces as he continued to speak. “If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know what I would have done to force the school to play ball, never mind everything else. The guy was just doing his job, and he was respectful about it, and honestly? I’ve got nothing to hide.” Glancing up, Danny flashed Zoe an amused smirk. “You’ve said it for years; I’m the most boring person you’ve ever met.”  
  
Grinning when Zoe rolled her eyes, Danny turned his attention back to the board, carefully checking it to make sure that it hadn’t changed while he’d been on the phone, chuckling when Zoe chimed in a moment later.  
  
“Please, Danny. I’ve been beating you at this game since we were both eight, I don’t need to cheat.” Rolling his eyes, Danny reached down, grabbing one of his tiles and setting it on the table, leaning back in his chair and watching Zoe as she leaned forward.  
  
Her expression shifted, discontent and irritation bleeding away as her eyes focused on the board, considering every tile visible before flicking back to her hand. This process repeated several times as she puzzled out her move, and Danny couldn’t resist the amused chuckle that bubbled up when she lingered over three of her tiles, torn between her apparently multiple choices.  
  
“So,” Danny spoke, ignoring the faux-scathing look that accompanied her, finally dropping a tile. “Why would he want to speak with the Mayor?” Splitting his attention between the tiles before him and Zoe’s contemplative features, Danny considered his next move as she responded.  
  
“I don’t know, Danny. I’ve sort of lost track of what Alan’s current plan is, truthfully. I still have no idea why he’s doubling down so hard on Sophia ‘Thuggish Vigilante’ Hess, of all people. There doesn’t seem to be anything remarkable enough about her that he’d make _that_ the hill that he’d die on, but here we are.” Rubbing tiredly at her face, Zoe leaned forward, and Danny felt that familiar flicker of concern bubbling up through him.  
  
“Zoe, I mean- She did save Emma’s and his life. There is a debt there. If someone had saved Taylor, I’d give-” Danny frowned, staring down at his tiles, considering what all he’d be willing to do to repay something like that.  
  
“That’s-” Zoe spoke softly, pausing for a moment before pressing on. “That might be true, Danny, but I’ve seen you deal with thugs before. I doubt that there’s any debt out there that would let you enable one.” Rubbing at her temple, Zoe tapped her tiles in thought as Danny made another play. Surprisingly she didn’t immediately consider his move, seemingly lost in thought. “I think, honestly, that this has been coming for a while, Alan’s been… different ever since that alley. I should have made a bigger fuss about him getting therapy over it, him and Emma both.”  
  
Danny frowned, wishing that he could argue with Zoe, but deep down, he knew that someone should have stepped in after… everything. Alan was clearly adrift at this point, and he was only getting worse. Danny was… familiar with downward spirals, and he wondered how far Alan would fall before something forced him to come to terms with the reality before him, like Taylor’s tearful confession had jarred Danny himself out of his melancholy.  
  
The sound of a phone letting out an imperious three-toned ding jarred them both out of their thoughts, and Danny lifted his head as Zoe fished out the device, carefully flipping it open. The look of irritation that washed over his friend’s face startled him. Watching Zoe’s free hand clenching around the tile in her hand, Danny leaned forward curiously.  
  
“Sometimes…” Zoe’s voice was low and laced with irritation and disbelief as she stared at her phone. “Sometimes, I wish that I’d listened to Dad when he’d sat me down to talk about Alan.” Shaking her head, Zoe glanced up at him, blinking in confusion as she evidently realized that she’d said that out loud.  
  
“Connor didn’t like Alan?” Danny spoke curiously, his voice no doubt cut through with the surprise he was feeling. Danny had never known Connor Holbrook to be a man prone to keeping his opinions to himself, but he’d never said an unkind word about Alan where Danny could have heard. Danny watched as Zoe’s expression firmed up a bit as she slapped her phone shut and stuffed it away.  
  
“Dad and Alan never really saw eye to eye… about a lot of things. They had a few arguments over the years,” Zoe’s expression fell a bit, and he frowned, staring down at the board.  
  
“Huh, I always assumed that your dad was pretty… forthright about what he thought of people.” A tiny flicker of familiar doubt and concern whispered through him, and he froze when one of Zoe’s tiny white tiles bounced off the side of his head. He glanced up, shocked to catch Zoe’s narrowed eyes on him.  
  
“Dad never let Alan forget what he thought of him and his white knight personality, Danny. If he’d had a problem with _you_ , you’d have known it.” Danny flushed, nervously adjusting his glasses as Zoe stared at him, continuing after a moment. “Dad was proud of you, Danny, right to the end. His only regret was that he never gave in to the temptation to clean your dad’s clock when he had the chance.” Danny felt his cheeks burning just a hint as Zoe continued warmly.  
  
“You know it, Danny. He was always crowing about you at the O’Malleys, as long as I can remember. Considering what you’ve done with the union, and everything else, he never let anyone forget that it was _Connor Holbrook_ that got Danny Hebert started with the union.” Grumbling under his breath, Danny adjusted his glasses quietly. Looking for a change of subject, he gestured toward Zoe’s phone on the table.  
  
“What did Alan want?” Zoe peered at him, eyes narrowing when he grabbed the tossed piece from her and set it in his own hand, but she didn’t call him on it, merely nodding to her phone.  
  
“Alan merely wanted to inform me that, since my ‘hissy fit’—" Zoe actually paused here to do air quotes, and Danny winced at the subtle hints of Zoe’s accent that started to creep into her tone as she continued angrily. “—was taking so long, and that it didn’t seem like dinner was ever going to be made for ‘our family,’ that I should probably locate something to eat on my own, since he's taking Emma out for dinner.” Danny winced as the woman trailed off her gaze, settling on the table.  
  
Part of him was tempted to jump in on the Alan-anger, to let his own frustrations loose with Zoe, to see her flare up further. Part of him even imagined that Alan might deserve the righteous argument that was coming his way tonight when his pettiness was turned back on him. But that being said, Zoe was his friend, and he’d learned a long time ago that getting too invested in her relationships was a bad idea. Instead, Danny shook his head and opted to try and change the subject.  
  
“Well, I mean-” he started, waiting until Zoe glanced up from where she’d dropped her phone, offering her a teasing smirk as he blatantly offered up a verbal segue. “I’ve been considering another attempt to figure out the secret recipe to Holbrook family stew that your father apparently took to the grave with him.” Danny watched as Zoe’s irritation faded, replaced with bemusement and subtle amusement.  
  
“Danny…” Zoe tried again, before chuckling as she leaned back in her chair. “You and I both know that the only secret ingredient in my dad’s stew was whiskey.” Loosing a chuckle in response, Danny pushed to his feet and stalked over to the nearby cabinets, smoothly opening one up and pulling out a bottle of amber liquid.  
  
“What a coincidence,” Danny offered, his voice teasing as he held the bottle up to catch the light, “I seem to have mysteriously been keeping this bottle of Black Rabbit around for some… strange reason.” He grinned when Zoe pushed to her feet, stalking toward him. When she grabbed the bottle, he offered no resistance as she inspected it curiously for a moment before heading to a nearby cabinet to pull out two glasses.  
  
“Fine.” Zoe’s voice was laced with more amusement than her words implied, and Danny leaned against the counter, watching as she poured a small amount into her glass and waved him toward the cabinets as she sipped at it. “You can start with the carrots and potatoes. I assume that you’ve got some chuck meat in this rabbit’s den?” A tiny smile ghosted over Danny’s features as the last remnants of anger and disappointment seemed to melt of Zoe’s expression. She didn’t even wait for his response, fishing through the fridge to find what she needed.  
  
Ingredients were fetched, cleaned, and laid out, and Danny fell into the familiar routine of working around someone else in the kitchen. When the radio was turned on, and a familiar voice began to sing along with it, distant memories of cooking pasta with Annette faded, replaced by even more distant memories of following Connor Holbrook’s directions around a smaller kitchen, and listening as a pair of Irish voices heatedly argued about the best way to blanch potatoes in the background.  
  
In the end, the music was sweet, the company was pleasant, and the whiskey kept him warm far longer than the stew did. And Danny didn’t lose himself in thoughts about Taylor until well past when Zoe had headed home.  
  
  


▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Dun, Dun, Dun. Finally, some details on the situation in Brockton Bay, as well as answers to questions that people have had for the last eight chapters. Also Danny perspective. I love me some Danny perspective.
> 
> So, I imagine at this point that you're all starting to pick up on some of the AU elements present in this fic. A lot of what happened up there, is due to changes that I've made to Annette, sort of, paired with a few changes that I also made to Danny to make the whole premise work. Primarily though I altered things so that Danny's friend in the Barnes Household was Zoe, as opposed to Alan. Actually they're childhood friends, which is how Taylor and Emma knew each other, and etc. In IA, when Danny went to Zoe, she helped him fix things, as opposed to how Alan handled it in canon when Danny went to him. Everything else sort of snowballed away from there.
> 
> It's not super relevant to current events in the story, but I sort of enjoyed the idea of touching base with Danny to show you all that he wasn't contemplating suicide, or anything insane, and that despite missing Taylor he's doing okay, and has his own things going on. Even if said things are keeping Zoe from letting her Irish temper loose on her husband.
> 
> Other than that, not much to discuss. The next update will be the first post of Arc 2 over in HHI, and then we'll be back here for Chapter 9 of In Absentia. I'm not going to do a chapter title separation thing for Arcs, but I'll make a note in the Threadmarks where each arc starts, just cause I enjoy the numbered Chapter titles we've been doing up to this point.
> 
> Anyway, as always, I look forward to your reactions, and I'll see you folks in the comments section.]]


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Le GASP. What's this? A Chapter? See you guys down there in the after story bits. ^^
> 
> Quick Refresher. Last Story update with Taylor took place on Valentine's day, and that's when the kiss happened. This picks up, uh... A week and a day later. =] So, uh. Shenanigans ensue. =]. As always thanks to our delightful beta Noelemahc, as is usual we had a bit of help from Juff, and moode even tossed in a few pointers, so thanks to all of them for making this miasma of creativity somewhat easy to read. ^^]]

_February 22nd, 2011_   
_Oak Valley Secondary School, Queens_

  
  
_'[I heard them calling in the distance. So, I packed my things and ran. Far away from all the trouble I had caused with my two hands.'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt7ox1M_XG4)_  
  
Bobbing her head in time with the music, Taylor considered the song as she wove past the milling students. It was something that Lily had downloaded onto her phone, and Taylor idly wondered if the other girl had chosen the songs with her in mind or not. There was a substantial meaning in the lyrics that strummed at a chord in the middle of her chest. That thought merely brought up the looming _questions_ that still hung in the air between them, things that neither she nor Lily had been able to broach over the last week.  
  
She came to a stop at the end of the hall, her thoughts once more dissolving into the familiar foam of uncertainty and hesitance that Lily often brought these days. Rather than focusing on that, though, she distracted herself by staring around at the sea of unfamiliar faces moving around and past her, wondering why so few seemed to be heading for the exits. Classes were done for the day; after all, though, as she considered the bracing winds outside and the transit schedule, Taylor wasn't all that surprised that few people seemed to be moving with any real haste. Truthfully, even Taylor hersel-  
  
A two-toned ping momentarily interrupted the music that she was listening to, accompanied by an equally brief flicker of buzzing and swirling under her skin that quickly stilled when the drums and piano rose back to prominence. Pulling out her phone and seeing that her grandmother had responded to her earlier text about being home a bit late tonight, Taylor quickly thumbed in her access code, pulling up her texts.  
  
 ** _'Alright, hope you have fun at 'Charlie's' meeting, dear. If you girls decide to go out afterward, just let me know.'_**  
  
Blushing, Taylor moved to respond, hurriedly tapping her thumbs over the screen's keyboard. In fact, she was so intent on crafting a suitably snarky response that the world around her faded into faint white noise. That is, until someone crashed into her back, sending her staggering forward.  
  
Lunging, Taylor's hand lashed out, catching her phone moments after it slipped from her fingers, fumbling the device for a moment as her blush darkened. Heart sinking as she got the phone back under control, Taylor cupped it to her chest, almost protectively. That familiar buzzing swelled up within her chest, ghosting across the back of her mind and she spun around looking for who'd pushed her, eyes tracing over the watching crow-  
  
There was no watching crowd; a few eyes glanced at her, amusement visible on their features before they returned to their conversations. Halfway down the hall, a heavy student continued on, distractedly talking into his cell phone. Just… an accident, Taylor realized, and her racing heart almost immediately began to slow, the music once more penetrating the haze of adrenaline and fear that'd momentarily suffused her entire being.  
  
 _'[Some had scars, and some had scratches, it made me wonder about their past. And, as I looked around, I began to notice that we were nothing like the rest.'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt7ox1M_XG4)_  
  
She contemplated the oddly poignant words, glancing around at the nearby student. Realizing that no one was even looking at her, Taylor felt her shoulders relaxing, blush quickly fading once she realized that _no one cared_. With a shake to end the brief moment of introspection, Taylor promptly finished off her message, sending it off to Gram before making her way toward the door that Charlie had shown her on their way to lunch.  
  
Dodging around another person that was more invested in their phone than where their feet were taking them, Taylor slid up to the door, twisting the knob and pushing it inwards to reveal… a classroom. An innocuous, seemingly unremarkable room, singular only in the fact that Charlie and a teacher, an older woman, were present and in mid-conversation.  
  
Honestly, she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when Lily had pointed out that this was where the 'Triangles' met, but this wasn't it. Stepping into the room, Taylor reached up, tugging her headphones out of her ears and wrestling with a resurgence of the faint, looming buzzing that had been her constant companion for almost two weeks now.  
  
Pushing past the sensations, Taylor saw Charlie turning to glance in her direction and forced a smile onto her face, the act a fair bit easier once the other girl returned it. That being said, the hint of surprise and confusion in the redhead's eyes didn't do much for the faint, enduring anxiety that she felt these days, and she found herself wondering if she'd been wrong about the meeting being today. Perhaps Charlie had just been-  
  
"Taylor! You're uh… early. Really early." Charlie glanced down, grabbing her phone to check the time before peering back at her. "The meeting isn't until three-thirty."  
  
Blinking in confusion, Taylor glanced at her phone, embarrassed to see that it was barely past three. She hadn't even realized that the meeting probably wouldn't start immediately once school was over. Embarrassment began to well up in the back of her mind as she thought about her haste in working her way here once she'd escaped her final class of the day, and she could feel her cheeks starting to burn.  
  
"-But, that just means that you've volunteered for all of the physical labor." Glancing up at the words, Taylor felt as her blush faded once she considered Charlie's seemingly genuine amusement and the way her lips remained in that welcoming smile. Taylor fidgeted for a moment, considering just offering to step out, then return later, when the meeting was supposed to start, but the teacher pushed to her feet, removing the option from her entirely.  
  
"I'll leave you two to it, then. If I'm to be tasked with wrangling your lot this afternoon, a cup of coffee wouldn't be remiss." The woman's voice was warm and casual, despite the words she said, and the subtle hint of an English accent somehow managed to ease what should have been some biting commentary. Glancing over, Taylor finally focused on the woman.  
  
Short, chin-length silver hair framed an age-lined face with warm brown eyes. The teacher offered her a smile that Taylor found herself returning with an ease that surprised her. Stepping aside when the teacher approached, Taylor watched her vanish out the door, restraining the urge to fidget in place until Charlie spoke.  
  
"That's our main faculty sponsor, Miss Grant. She's part of the English department with Barrs. Teaches creative writing mostly." Turning toward the voice, Taylor glanced at the other girl and opened her mouth to speak, but some manner of lingering uncertainty hung over her like a pall, and no words emerged.  
  
"Right. So, since you're here early, I guess that means you can help with the setup." Thankfully, rather than allowing her to wallow in awkwardness, Charlie pressed on, dragging Taylor out of the mire of her trepidation. "We'll need to get all the desks out of the middle of the room. We can just line them up on either side and then we can just set the chairs out in a ring."  
  
It wasn't hard to figure out what Charlie had in mind, between the other girl's gesticulations as she'd been explaining, then watching her as she started the process and moved one of the desks to the far wall. Walking over, Taylor joined in, hefting up a second desk and slowly carrying it over to set it next to the one that Charlie had moved.  
  
From here, things devolved into silence, though contrasted with the awkwardness that hung over them not five minutes ago, this quiet was more… companionable. And it wasn't really that silent, either. The air was filled with the scraping of metal on concrete, and the faint labored breathing of the two girls exerting themselves. And yet, when Charlie's voice did cut through the air, it felt almost explosive. Though, perhaps it was what the other girl had to say.  
  
"So, what's this I hear about you kissing my best friend?" Tension suddenly bloomed over Taylor's shoulders, coiling down the center of her back, and she froze where she'd been standing, bent over one of the remaining desks. She tried to force herself to lift her head, to glance up at Charlie. The other girl's voice had been playful, teasing like everything would be fine. And yet, some tiny part of her reminded her that Lily was Charlie's best friend and that Taylor had, in the same day, told her that she wasn't gay, and then proceeded to kiss said best friend. It wasn't-  
  
Taylor's hands tightened on the desk that she was gripping when the heavy, oppressive silence that they'd found themselves in was suddenly broken. The sound of Charlie's sneakers dragging over the carpet as she approached became the distant sound of waves crashing into the shore to herald an oncoming storm. The tension in the air grew taut, and Taylor waited for the harsh accusation to come, the low, disappointed words and the recriminations.  
  
"Taylor." The tone was gentle, concerned, and Taylor nearly lost her tenuous grasp on her powers when Charlie's hand settled on her shoulder. Gritting her teeth, she swallowed heavily and lifted her chin, glancing toward Charlie and studying the apparent concern and worry on the redhead's face. "Are you alright? You look terrified."  
  
"I-" Taylor trailed off, realizing that Charlie wasn't _mad_ , and the cloying tension that had been lingering over her snapped, the omnipresent fluttering under her skin falling blessedly silent as her entire form slumped in relief. "I thought you'd be mad. Y-you told me not to…" Taylor swallowed slowly, lips curling into a self-conscious frown as she pressed on hurriedly before Charlie could cut in. "I'm not leading her on. I didn't mean to-"  
  
"Taylor, Taylor!" Charlie's voice was gentle, that steadying hand on her shoulder, tightening its grip while shaking her gently out of her verbal diarrhea. Taylor fell silent, swallowing again as she stared nervously at the older girl. "I'm not upset. Lily's fine as well. I'm just… curious. How did it happen?"  
  
"I-" Taylor started and froze again, as the words failed her, and she finally dragged her gaze away from Charlie's eyes and turned toward the blackboard at the front of the room. She'd been asking herself that question for the last week, and she still couldn't come up with a _good_ reason for doing what she'd done. "I- I don't know, Charlie. I just. She seemed down-" Taylor paused, frowning at the way that Charlie's amusement seemed to visibly dim before her eyes, and she hurriedly pressed on.  
  
"It's not. It wasn't a pity thing. It was- I don't know what it was, Charlie. I just... It was Valentine's Day, and she looked so dejected when she'd left. She'd spent a whole week trying and failing to ask me out, and the _entire_ time, I'd been this frustrating mixture of terrified, confused, nervous, flattered and terrified. And then-" Taylor paused, swallowing the words that she wanted to say, waving a hand. "-then we had that disagreement. And things went all to hell." Taylor turned away from Charlie, not wanting to see the judgment in the other girl's eyes as she nervously fidgeted her hands and stared toward the closed classroom door.  
  
"I just. I saw her leaving, and there was, like, this shroud of disappointment and loss around her, and I could just tell that she was certain that she'd screwed up. She looked so devastated, and before I could really think about it, I was moving. I-" The deluge of words washing out of her lips suddenly ran dry, and Taylor swallowed against the lump in the back of her throat.  
  
"So, you kissed her?" Taylor lifted her head when Charlie spoke, glancing at the older girl and taking in the confusion, concern, and worry visible on her face. Something about the look on the redhead's features sent a flutter of fear and worry lancing through Taylor's middle, and she leaned forward, speaking hastily once more.  
  
"I-It wasn't like that. I just. She looked- It felt like-" Taylor paused, swallowing once more while trying to force her whirling, panicked thoughts into things that she could actually vocalize. "I- She looked so broken. She stepped down off my porch, looking for all the world like she'd had her chance, that she'd blown it, and suddenly I was gripped with this feeling that if I let her leave like that, that it'd be done. That it'd be over." Charlie's eyes softened, and Taylor turned, not quite able to meet the other girl's eye anymore. Her gaze lowered, settling once more on her hands as she nervously picked at her fingers.  
  
"I- I couldn't just let her go, thinking that. I don't know what I planned when I started moving, but one step turned into three, then five, then ten, and then suddenly I was there next to her, my hands tangled in her coat, my lips pressed to her cheek." Taylor's voice was hoarse, her lips dry and she resisted the urge to swallow _again,_ since it accomplished nothing, merely forcing herself to continue. "I-I didn't expect her to react… to try and kiss me back. I panicked."  
  
"Why?" Charlie's words were soft, and yet Taylor couldn't help but imagine that some tiny bit of warmth was gone from the other girl's voice as she responded. That familiar anxious swirl in her gut returned, and Taylor tightened her arms as if that might soften the fluttering that she could feel like she was trying to hold herself down. As she shrank into herself, Taylor wondered whether Charlie was asking why she'd kissed Lily, or why she'd panicked when the other girl had tried to kiss her back.  
  
She'd asked herself both questions several times over the last week as she and Lily spent their days going to and from school together while pretending that neither had happened. Though in the end, it didn't matter because the answer to both was the same.  
  
"I didn't want to lose her," Taylor muttered softly, finally as she stared at her hands. Charlie shifted beside her and let out a slow, sad exhale, and Taylor winced.  
  
"Do you like her?" The question ghosted over, and Taylor frowned, refusing to look up from her hands.  
  
"I- I don't know," she muttered, shifting nervously away from Charlie when the girl inhaled sharply. Taylor pushed off the desk and straightened up, rounding on the other girl. She spoke, hoping to stave off the condemnation and judgment that was surely in the other girl's eyes. "I honestly don't know, Charlie. I-I've never had to deal with this before. No one's _ever_ looked at me the way that Lily looks at me, and I- I just- I just couldn't let her walk away." She finally lifted her head, her rambling stuttering momentarily at the stark, poignant understanding in the other girl's eyes. Slowly, tentatively she pressed on. "I-I needed more time. I just… I couldn't let it end there; I couldn't lose her before I even understood if I wanted her." Taylor's arms tightened around her middle once more, and she stared at Charlie in abject silence.  
  
Charlie never got a chance to respond, as the heavy oak door crashed inwards before either of them managed to marshall their thoughts. A wave of teens came pouring in, and suddenly Charlie's friendly, casual smile slid back into place as she greeted them, and Taylor was once more adrift in a sea of faces sporting friendly, if curious smiles. A pair of powerfully built boys took over the moving of the remainder of the desks, and Taylor found herself once more buoyed along in Charlie's wake as the friendly girl introduced her around.  
  
To Taylor's astonishment, she started to notice hints of recognition in the gazes of the other kids, even managing to place a few faces in return. Hesitant smiles were exchanged with one of the boys that she'd seen playing cards with Lily last week. The fluttering in her stomach dulled when a trio of girls she vaguely recognized from the darkened interior of Jumpstart introduced themselves to her again and started asking how she'd met Charlie, listening with rapt attention to her nervous response.  
  
Somehow, despite her distinct lack of social finesse, the three girls had kept the conversation going, and when they'd all taken their seats as the meeting started, Taylor found herself settled in the midst of them, sitting across the ring of chairs at an amused looking Charlie. After a few moments of seemingly just watching them chatter, the older girl let out a sharp whistle, causing the conversations around the ring to fade to silence, with a few grumbles.  
  
"Alright, alright, you guys," Charlie called, voice low and playful, as she glanced around the circle." We can all shoot the shit after this is done, but Miss Grant has stuff that she needs to do later." Charlie bowed her head toward the teacher that Taylor had seen earlier, the woman having apparently returned while Taylor was distracted.  
  
"So, to start, since we've got a few new faces this week, we'll go around and introduce ourselves. I'll start. I'm Charlie Middleton, I'm a lesbian, and I prefer She/Her pronouns." Charlie waved playfully when the rest of the kids offered half-hearted 'hello's' in response, and Taylor tried to ignore the wave of roiling wing beats that she could feel under her skin as she realized that she'd be obligated to introduce herself like that.  
  
There were seven people between her and Charlie in the ring, and Taylor didn't get any of their names, her mind desperately locked on keeping herself from flying away as she tried to figure out what she'd say right up to the point that one of her new friends gently nudged her. Jerking out of her thoughts, Taylor lifted her head and nearly vanished on the spot when she realized that _everyone_ was looking at her.  
  
She wet her lips, gaze drifting around the entirety of the ring, nervously studying each face that stared back at her until she settled on Charlie. The older girl seemed to realize what was going on, leaned forward, clearly intent on saving her. At first, relief washed through Taylor, though when the older girl opened her mouth to speak, something… changed. Some tiny kernel of cold, hard emotion deep, deep inside her shifted, and the fluttering ceased as a wave of frustration and stubborn determination washed through her. Leaning forward, Taylor cut in, speaking before Charlie could.  
  
"Hey, sorry. Got a bit lost in my thoughts. I'm Taylor. Taylor Hebert. Uh, She/Her pronouns work. I'm a-uh, a bisexual." Taylor held her breath for a moment, glancing around. No one seemed to react really; there were no accusations, no harsh looks. A moment passed, then another, and then the teens offered up an equally monotone greeting as well, and the introductions continued around the circle. The attention shifted away from her, and Taylor felt her back straightening as she settled back into her seat.  
  
A hint of movement caught her eye, and when she followed it, she saw Charlie staring back at her. When the older girl raised one of her eyebrows, Taylor nervously shrugged up a shoulder, which seemed to satisfy her, and she turned back to the rest of the teens as the introductions finished.  
  
"Right. Now that we know that all of you heathens know each other, let's get this party started. Same rules as always. New Business at the end, Garfield!" Charlie pointed at one of the heavy-set boys that had taken over re-arranging the room, causing him to jerk a bit in confusion at the sudden shout, pointing nervously at himself. "Yes, you. Did you think we'd forget about your birthday? Now then. On three. One, Two, Three… Happy Birth-" The boy blushed, shrinking back into his seat, and Taylor found herself swept up with the rest when they began to sing happy birthday.  
  
The smile that bloomed over her face as she was singing didn't dim for the rest of the meeting.  
  
  


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"I don't know, Charlie. Maybe I'm just tired of running from who I am, what I want." Taylor chuckled at the sharp bark of laughter that the other girl offered up when she said this. Shoving her hands into the deep pockets of her jacket, Taylor ducked her head a bit, hoping to hide from both the cold and the penetrating stare coming from her friend. Rather than focusing on Charlie's teasing, Taylor turned her thoughts toward the meeting that she'd just left.  
  
The most surprising aspect, to Taylor at least, had been the seriousness of it all. There had been some merriment, like the birthday song, but once that had passed, things became a lot more somber then she'd initially expected. There had been a discussion of the highs and lows of the previous two weeks from a few of the members, advice had been solicited and received, and then the group had turned to their place in the surrounding community as a whole. Despite her admission, Taylor didn't actually have much to contribute, and she'd been content to remain mostly quiet, listening as the others spoke.  
  
A surprising number of the kids present had discussed the charities that they worked with, clearly hoping to entice her and the other new faces into helping out. They'd waxed poetic about their groups, the good that could be done to help the homeless, or the various battered women's shelters, but there'd also been this subtle undercurrent of things that were more… hinted at then outright spoken, words like visibility or perception that cropped up slightly too often to be accidental.  
  
While it'd been clear that the other teenagers truly wanted to help, that they wanted to make the city better for their passage through it, it was also clear that the kids wanted- or perhaps needed -to show off their colors with pride while they did it. It wasn't enough to make the world better; any one could do that. No, they also had to force the world to see them for who they were as they did it. To make the rest of the world see that despite what they felt, or who they loved, that they belonged to the community and more than that, that they were a positive influence on it.  
  
The idea had been almost... heavy to Taylor. The smile that'd been on her lips had dimmed, and a resounding, almost ponderous trepidation had pooled in her chest as she stared at the faces around her. She was left with the sensation that she was standing at the top of a great cliff, mere steps away from the yawning chasm below. She wasn't sure what was beyond the edge, she hadn't gotten close enough to really see yet, but she was close enough to get an idea of the danger that she was approaching.  
  
It'd been… unsettling, for several reasons, and the lingering sense of uncertainty still clung to her, even now that she was away from it all, and alone with her friend once more. Part of her wondered if she really knew what she was getting herself into, if this was all a good idea or not, she hadn't even really-  
  
"You alright there, Taylor? You seemed to have disappeared into outer space." Charlie's finger dug into her side, and Taylor jerked out of her thoughts, standing up a bit straighter and blushing in embarrassment. A shake of her head dislodged the dark thoughts from her mind, and she pulled her face out of her jacket, attempting to do everything that she could to look regal, refined as she stared down her nose at Charlie.  
  
"Fine. Just contemplating what I'm going to get when we get to Jumpstart. Have you heard from-" Taylor trailed off, her eyes narrowing as she caught a familiar flash of reflective light, eyes leaving Charlie's face as she fell silent and turned to see what'd caught her eye. Across the parking lot, Saviero was walking toward his car, juggling a bag, a stack of documents, and his briefcase as he attempted to collect his keys from his pocket.  
  
Taylor only realized that she'd stopped walking when Charlie suddenly appeared in her line of sight, waving a hand at her as she spoke, drawing Taylor's attention back to her.  
  
"-rth to Taylor. You just spaced out, _again._ Part of me is getting offended that you don't want to stay here on terra firma with me. What's up?" The girl turned, glancing over her shoulder, following the line of Taylor's gaze, a sharp bark of laughter emerging when the older girl caught sight of Saviero tripping and dropping his papers on the snowy parking lot.  
  
"I, uh. I've gotta talk to Saviero." Taylor's voice slipped free without her even thinking about it, and when Charlie whirled on her with confusion, she pressed on, hoping to stave off any awkward questions. "I completely forgot that I was supposed to ask him about some of my placement tests. Look, you can go on ahead of me, meet Lily, hold my table?" Taylor watched the way the older girl's eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth, clearly intent on arguing.  
  
"It'll be like ten minutes, tops. Just uh. Wait here?" She stared at the other girl, doing her best to look determined, at least until the redhead deflated, offering her a long-suffering sigh and a nod of acceptance. Not wishing to test her good luck, Taylor didn't linger, moving quickly across the hard-packed snow toward the guidance counselor.  
  
When a stack of papers just out of the bald man's reach caught a breeze and fluttered up into the air, Taylor dropped her bag and charged forward, leaping up and snagging them out of the air with a grunt of effort and a rather ignoble staggered landing. The amused clapping that the older man offered her did little beyond staining her cheeks once more a brilliant crimson.  
  
Turning toward him, Taylor offered out the stack of papers, nodding simply at the muttered thanks that the older man had offered her. As Saviero checked his papers for damage before tucking them under his arm, Taylor remained fixed in place, utterly silent as she inspected the unassuming man.  
  
He wasn't overly tall or broad. He had no presence. If it wasn't for the fact that he was entirely bald at such a young age, Taylor might have even said that the man lacked anything that made him unique, and yet— She'd been so utterly _certain_ that the man before her was the cape that'd come to her house the night she triggered. Strangely, seeing him like this-  
  
"Something I can help you with, _Miss Hebert?"_ She lifted her head, meeting the man's dark eyes, watching his eyebrow raised in a mixture of amusement and curiosity, and suddenly the confusion, the disbelief vanished. Taking a step back, Taylor balked as she stared up at Saviero, once more _wholly_ convinced that the man before her was a cape. She blinked in confusion for several moments, glancing around and checking to see if they were alone.  
  
"No one can hear us, Taylor, say what you need to say." The words were low, warm, and clearly intended to be inviting, and yet something about them unsettled Taylor. That fluttering sensation washed up along her spine, and Taylor pulled her shoulders in close as she took another step back, turning to stare at the older man's inviting smile and curious eyes. The silence between them lingered for a few moments until the question that had been rattling around her head for two weeks whenever she saw the man finally bounced its way out of her lips.  
  
"You revealed yourself to me on purpose, didn't you? You knew what you were doing, and you did it anyway. Why?" The man blinked, surprise momentarily ghosting over his features before that mild amusement replaced it once more. He shrugged up one of his shoulders, his free hand coming up to rub the top of his head.  
  
"What has Lily told you of my powers, Taylor?" The question surprised her, though it really shouldn't have.  
  
"I-uh. Nothing. Lily hasn't told me anything about anyone but herself. Though I did do a bit of research on you, and the Lancers. You're a thinker… right?" The man's head cocked slightly to the side as his lips curled into a surprised expression that Taylor imagined matched her own. After a moment, though, the man nodded as he responded.  
  
"Astonishing, I'd expected Lily to be a bit more… forthright. I'm impressed." In truth, Lily and Taylor hadn't really discussed their powers, or the consequences of them having them since they'd spoken a week ago on Valentine's day. It was one of the many things that they'd both silently agreed to pretend didn't happen as they fell back into acting out their mutually oblivious friendship.  
  
"In any case, yes, Thinker works as good of an explanation as any. I see more about people than they can see about themselves. As to your question, I did it because I could see that the fragile connections that you'd built here were so very close to shattering, and if something didn't give, you'd have lost it all. I merely… helped things along without forcing Lily to choose between you and her team-mates." Glancing up when Saviero spoke, a tiny, almost oily flame of roiling distaste and suspicion blooming in her chest at the man's words.  
  
She opened her mouth, a half dozen accusations or cruel assumptions pooling in the back of her throat, but the expression on Saviero's face stilled the vitriol there. The man looked… passive, accepting. And she took a moment to consider what he'd said mere moments ago. He'd opted to bear the burden of revealing himself onto her, to save Lily from having to weather it. And something told her that he'd be equally happy to weather the storm of her dark thoughts about the PRT for similar reasons.  
  
Something about this bothered her and Taylor forced herself to swallow back the dark feelings, for the moment at least. There were other reasons that she'd come here. Other questions that she'd wanted to ask.  
  
"Is Lily in trouble?" Again, her words seemed to startle Saviero, earning Taylor a look that somehow managed to be both assessing and prideful. She felt her cheeks darkening at the look, and she frowned.  
  
"Why do you ask?" The question was frank, straightforward, and Taylor tucked her arms closer to her sides.  
  
"She's been… tense. We haven't… We don't talk about her work with the Wards. Though she did give me a very basic overview of the local program, and when everything came out, considering the things that I'd overheard that Jou-" She paused, swallowing at the man's strangely sharp look and reeled her thoughts back in a touch. "Josh, rather, and Lily were arguing about. She, uh. She was forced to explain some things, then." Saviero's expression softened here, and Taylor nervously shoved her hands back into her pockets.  
  
"She hasn't… talked about it since, but there's been this… feeling that I've gotten lately that things aren't going great… there. From what she hasn't said." Taylor pressed her lips into a thin line when Saviero merely rubbed the back of his head again, giving the area around them a brief glance.  
  
"Lily was _technically_ correct when she told Josh, and presumably yourself, that the instructions that she'd gotten were worded as 'suggestions.' That being said…" The man paused, checking his watch with a frown. "That being said, Taylor, there is a certain expectation that suggestions offered by Lily's superiors would be a bit more binding than she'd been treating them, especially when she wasn't just risking herself." Taylor frowned, momentarily feeling a surge of distaste and guilt welling up in her at that.  
  
"So, she's in trouble then," Taylor muttered, earning herself an amused look for Saviero.  
  
"Nothing quite so severe as you're imagining, I bet. She's merely been reprimanded, Taylor. A mark in her file, some strongly worded warnings from concerned capes that have been through this sort of situation in the past." Taylor opened her mouth, though nothing came out for several seconds as she considered the words. She'd been expecting something else, though she couldn't really articulate, even to herself, what it was that'd been percolating in her mind, merely that it was 'bad.'  
  
She'd also imagined, like, coming in and saving Lily, offering herself up to the sacrificial altar to 'fix' things. Her grandmother had been making increasingly pressing comments about her deciding what she wished to do with in regards to her powers while commenting on her own 'connections' and how she might-  
  
Taylor froze, staring at Saviero in mild dismay.  
  
"You're my grandmother's friend," she muttered softly, staring at the man. The man grinned and crossed his arms, but he didn't respond. It only took Taylor a second to realize the idiocy of the statement that she'd just made, and she hurriedly continued, clarifying. "Her' friend with powers' that she wants me to talk to about everything." The smile on Saviero's face dimmed a touch but lingered, and he merely nodded.  
  
"I've had this job for nearly two decades, Taylor. But I'm not the only person in the school that's obligated to interact with parahuman children. There is a support structure in place, and certain other counselors and teachers are kept in the loop, just in case. Your grandmother was one of them, though I don't think that either of us expected her to be on the other side of this particular arrangement." Taylor frowned, considering the man for a few moments before glancing over toward where Charlie still lingered by the nearby bus stop. It'd been nearly fifteen minutes at this point. Not sure how much longer she had to linger before Charlie finally intervened, she opted to get to the point.  
  
"I- My grandmother's been trying to convince me to speak with you. To at least look into what the Wards program has to offer in regards to learning to control my powers." She paused, before opting to throw caution to the wind, and maybe helping Lily a bit in the process. "Lily's also made a few attempts at convincing me to join up, despite everything that happened with Sophia." Here, the guidance counselor actually cringed, and Taylor felt some small, momentary hint of victory.  
  
"Let's… let's get this done with, just…" She paused, eyes drifting away from Saviero as she considered a touch softer. "Maybe you could make sure that people realize that, without certain people bending the rules, this could have gone a lot differently." Taylor glanced back at the subtle chuckle that Saviero offered, but the man's answering nod was… reassuring.  
  
"Very well. I'll have to make a few calls, Taylor, but I'll get in contact with your grandmother. We'll get the process started." The man trailed off suddenly, cocking his head to the side before turning toward the street, and Taylor followed his view, watching Charlie's unexpectedly rapid approach. "It seems our time is up, though, Taylor. Enjoy your coffee; I imagine that you'll be seeing more of me in the coming weeks."  
  
Swallowing nervously, Taylor glanced over at Saviero, blinking in confusion at the back of his shiny head as he headed toward his car. Abrupt. Shaking her head, she turned toward Charlie's approaching form and moved to cross the parking lot in her direction to meet her halfway.  
  
"Right!" she spoke first, to forestall any awkward questions about that whole conversation, pushing toward Charlie when she slowed. "I'm freezing, and there's a hot cup of chocolatey goodness waiting for me. Let's go."  
  
Thankfully, Charlie didn't argue, and the subject of her chat with Saviero was left alone, the conversation once more drifting to Charlie's attempts to make her blush by discussing the Triangles meeting.  
  
  


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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[So, it's beeeeeeeen a whiiiiiiiiile. *whistles and slaps thighs for several moments before coughing* Honestly. I've not got a great reason or anything. Things just got a bit tense, and it ended up being pretty challenging to read, much less write. Eventually, my urge to put pen to paper (Digitally, so to speak) returned, and uh. Here we are. I think, for the moment, I'm going to try and focus on one story at a time, and IA is a touch easier to spool out. Though, if my fingers get twitchy, we might see more HHI updates. But at least there'll be a teeny bit of action here to help tide you heathens over. =]
> 
> As evidenced by the insanity going on up there. =]. It's late, and I'm not in much of a mood to, uh, go every bit of plot in the afterword, so I'll save my personal reactions and merely look forward to seeing what you guys things of the recent developments.]]


End file.
